Department of Health and Social Care

Strokes: Children

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) men and (b) women under 18 years of age had a stroke in each of the last five years.

Steve Brine: Data on the counts of finished admission episodes for primary diagnoses of stroke and transient ischaemic attack (separately and combined), for under 18s and gender, for the time period 2012-13 to 2016-17, is attached. The data provided represents cases of stroke and transient ischaemic attack where the patient was admitted to hospital only. It should be noted that the same person may have been admitted to hospital on more than one occasion within any given time period.



PQ159602 attached table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 23.64 KB)

Patients: Travel

Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people claimed a refund of reasonable travel costs under the NHS healthcare travel costs assistance scheme in 2017-18.

Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people who successfully claimed a refund for reasonable travel costs under the NHS healthcare travel costs assistance scheme in 2017-18 were aged under 25.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme (HTCS) is a mandatory scheme. The National Health Service (Travel Expenses and Remission of Charges) Regulations 2003 (as amended), place a legal requirement on clinical commissioning groups, NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts to pay the NHS travel expenses of eligible patients through HTCS. The scheme is administered by the NHS locally and responsibility for collecting any data rests with local NHS organisations and claimants are not required to state their age on their claim form. The Department does not collect data in respect of the Scheme centrally.

Patients: Travel

Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how the NHS healthcare travel costs assistance scheme is funded.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The National Health Service (Travel Expenses and Remission of Charges) Regulations 2003 (as amended), place a legal requirement on clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), National Health Service trusts and NHS foundation trusts to pay the NHS travel expenses of eligible patients through the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme. The Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme is administered and run locally by NHS organisations and is funded from the overall budget allocations to each trust received from CCGs. CCGs receive their cash allocations from NHS England.

Menorrhagia

Jess Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of women affected by heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB) in England; and if he will make it his policy to improve HMB care in primary care.

Jess Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps NHS England has taken to improve care for women with heavy menstrual bleeding since the publication of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists National Heavy Menstrual Bleeding Audit in July 2014; and will he make a statement.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Data on the number of women affected by heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB) in England is not held centrally. HMB can have a major impact on a woman’s quality of life. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published guidelines on HMB in March 2018, which aim to improve the care surrounding HMB. The full guidance can be found at the following link: https://www.nice.org.uk/https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng88/evidence/full-guideline-pdf-4782291810 /ng88 The NICE guidelines emphasise the advances in treatments for HMB and the choices available for patients. NHS Choices also has a self-assessment website which directs people to primary care if they have HMB, which can be found at the following link: https://www.nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/Heavy-periods-self-assessment.aspx

Menorrhagia

Jess Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the economy of women missing work due to heavy menstrual bleeding.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department has not made such an assessment. Public Health England’s most recent study on the reproductive health of over 7,500 women in the United Kingdom found that menstrual issues (including heavy menstrual bleeding) were reported by half of women in all age groups and three quarters of women in the 16 to 24 age group. Reproductive symptoms often affected women’s ability to carry out their daily activities but symptoms were often concealed, particularly from work colleagues. Further information is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reproductive-health-what-women-say

Menorrhagia

Jess Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on women’s preferences for managing heavy menstrual bleeding.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Public Health England’s recent research entitled ‘What do women say?’ included a survey of more than 7,500 women, and found that embarrassment commonly acted as a barrier to accessing knowledge or support. There was often a perception that symptoms were normal and should be endured and consequently women feared they might not be taken seriously or that they would be judged negatively for needing help. Feeling well cared for by a healthcare professional in an environment free of judgement was seen as an essential component of good care in order to help overcome barriers to asking for help. This included finding new ways to support people if the existing ways were not working. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guideline 'Heavy menstrual bleeding: assessment and management' [NG88], published March 2018, includes evidence as to how exploring women's preferences can inform decisions. The guideline includes advice that clinicians should elicit women’s preferences, that treatment decision-making should involve negotiated agreement between women and clinicians, and that women should have adequate time and support in the decision-making process.

Hernias: Surgery

Eleanor Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many inguinal hernia repair procedures have been undertaken in each NHS trust in each of the last five years.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information is shown in the attached table.



Inguinal hernia repair procedures
(Excel SpreadSheet, 31.61 KB)

NHS Business Services Authority

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if the clinical evaluation team in the NHS Business Services Authority will include reference to potential savings to the public purse outside NHS settings when reviewing products and making purchasing recommendations.

Stephen Barclay: No. The purpose of the Clinical Evaluation Team (CET) is to focus solely on the clinical quality and safety of products and not to promote savings in or outside of National Health Service settings. The CET team was housed in NHS Business Services Authority but is currently transitioning into the Clinical and Product Assurance function within the new NHS Supply Chain where their purpose remains the same; purchasing decisions are undertaken separately by the Category Tower Service Providers within the new NHS Supply Chain and those Towers will be responsible for identifying saving opportunities.

Learning Disability: Nurses

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many learning disability nurses were employed in each of the last ten years for which figures are available.

Stephen Barclay: NHS Digital publishes workforce statistics. The attached table shows the full time equivalent figures for qualified learning disability nurses in National Health Service trusts and clinical commissioning groups in England, as at 30 September each specified year and latest data as at 31 March 2018. On 9 May 2018, I announced £10 million funding for incentives for postgraduate students who go on to work in mental health and learning disability fields, as well as those postgraduates who go on to work in district community nursing roles. These payment incentives offer £10,000 to future postgraduates who completed courses funded by loans in the 2018/19 academic year. The Government is considering the most effective way to implement the incentive scheme.



PQ160280 attached table
(Word Document, 14.96 KB)

Health Services: Foreign Nationals

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of ID checks and charges on waiting times for urgent treatment for non-UK citizens in (a) Birmingham and (b) England.

Stephen Barclay: There is no requirement on National Health Service staff to check every patient’s identification and asking for, or providing, ID is not a requirement of The National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2015 (as amended) and therefore no assessment has been made of the effect on access to healthcare. It is for providers of NHS care to assure themselves that they are doing everything reasonable to determine the eligibility of patients who are entitled to receive free NHS care, an entitlement based on residency not nationality. Treatment that clinicians consider is needed immediately or urgently will never be withheld, irrespective of if a patient is chargeable or not.

Compulsorily Detained Psychiatric Patients: Females

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the implications for his policies are of the data sourced from the Care Quality Commission and published by Agenda on 3 July 2018 on the number of women detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 who died after experiencing restraint between 2012 and 2017.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to data sourced from the Care Quality Commission and published by Agenda on 3 July 2018, if he will make an assessment of the reasons for the over-representation of women under the age of 30 and from BAME backgrounds among those women detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 who died after experiencing restraint between 2012 and 2017.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Treating and caring for people in a safe, compassionate environment – for both patients and staff – is a top priority for the Government. The Government is committed to reducing the use of restraint in mental health settings and is fully supporting the Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Bill which seeks to reduce the use of force and restrictive practices in mental health units. Work is underway to reduce the use of restrictive interventions across national organisations as part of a wider patient safety focus led by NHS England, NHS Improvement, Health Education England, and the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The work includes improving the definitions of restraint, improving the quality of local recording of incidents and therefore national reporting, and improving the quality of training staff receive on restrictive interventions. NHS Improvement are also leading a national mental health patient safety initiative informed by the CQC’s intelligence. Mental health providers will be involved in this initiative which emphasises shared learning and embedding of sustainable quality improvement approaches in mental health service delivery. There is no current assessment of the reasons for the over-representation of women under the age of 30 and from black, asian and minority ethnic backgrounds among those women detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 who died after experiencing restraint between 2012 and 2017. The disproportionate number of people from black and minority ethnicities detained under the act is a key focus of the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act, commissioned by the Prime Minister in October 2017. The review is due to publish its final report of recommendations in late 2018.

Department of Health and Social Care: Serco

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many current contracts his Department has with Serco; and what the (a) value, (b) start date and (c) end date of each of those contracts is.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department has one contract with Serco. The details are as follows: Service - Healthy Start VouchersStart Date – 1 April 2014End Date – 31 March 2019Value - £12,106,732

Breast Cancer: Screening

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the answer of 28 June 2018 to Question 157012, what the timeframe is for eligible women in (a) central and (b) east London to be offered an appointment in line with national breast screening standards.

Steve Brine: Women are currently being offered appointments in line with NHS England’s agreed recovery plan for Central and East London and the national breast screening standard, with 90% or more women invited within 36 months of their previous screen, by October 2019.

Doncaster Young Offender Institution: Health Services

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of healthcare provision in HMYOI Doncaster.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Since April 2013, NHS England has commissioned health services for all children and young people in Youth Offenders Institutions in England. NHS England have a number of systems in place to enable them to assess the adequacy of healthcare provision in HMYOI Doncaster. These include quarterly contract management meetings, Health and Justice Indicators of Performance returns, quality assurance visits, a quality surveillance process, and intelligence arising from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons and Care Quality Commission reports. In addition, NHS England work closely with colleagues from Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service to ensure awareness of their concerns. There have been historic concerns about the healthcare provision at HMYOI Doncaster as a result of which the provider is on enhanced surveillance. An action plan has been put in place to drive improvements and NHS England anticipate that they will be able to remove the provider from enhanced surveillance once they are assured that the progress demonstrated to date is sustainable.

Ambulance Services: Emergency Calls

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the average waiting time before a 999 ambulance call is answered in (a) Wirral, (b) Merseyside, (c) the North West and (d) England in each of the last 10 years.

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of ambulance 999 calls that were (a) put on hold and (b) sent to voicemail in (a) England, (b) the North West and (c) Wirral in each of the last five years.

Stephen Barclay: The information is not available in the format requested. Following the implementation of the new national performance framework for ambulances from August 2017, call answer time performance is published at both national and ambulance trust level. The following table shows the mean and median average call answer times (in seconds) in England and for the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS). Year2017-18 (August-March)12018-19 (Year To Date)RegionMeanMedianMeanMedianEngland15271NWAS363141Source: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ambulance-quality-indicators/Notes:The medians for England and years in this table are means of trusts’ monthly medians, weighted by their count of calls, as published in the Ambulance Quality Indicator national statistics monthly files. The England figure for 2017/18 is calculated from a different subset of trusts each month due to the variation in start dates for reporting against the Ambulance Response Programme, and excludes the Isle of Wight.NWAS began reporting against the new framework on 7 August 2017. Data prior to the implementation of the new framework, including median call answer times are available at ambulance trust level on a monthly basis from April 2011 to July 2017. Data for NWAS (in seconds) over this period is shown in the following table. 2011-122012-132013-142014-152015-162016-172017-18 (April-July)April1111111May1111111June1111111July1111111August111111N/ASeptember111111N/AOctober111111N/ANovember111311N/ADecember111111N/AJanuary111111N/AFebruary111111N/AMarch111111N/ASource: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ambulance-quality-indicators/ While 999 calls at times may queue to be answered as soon as possible, NHS England has confirmed that NWAS does not place 999 calls on hold or send them to voicemail. Placing calls on hold and the use of voicemail are not standard parts of the 999 call answer process and such information is not collected centrally.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to promote public understanding of the link between alcohol and cancer.

Steve Brine: Public Health England’s (PHE’s) ‘One You’ adult health campaign raises awareness of the health risks associated with excessive alcohol consumption, including cancers. ‘One You’ provides information, advice and online tools to help people drink less, including the ‘How Are You’ health quiz, website, email programme and the Drinks Tracker app. In addition, PHE’s ‘Be Clear on Cancer’ campaigns include a leaflet for public distribution through general practice surgeries, outreach events and partner organisations. The leaflets include advice on how to reduce the risk of cancer such as drinking less alcohol.

Department for Work and Pensions

Universal Credit: Wansbeck

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the proportion of people in receipt of universal credit in Wansbeck constituency who will have a household income of £7000 or less.

Alok Sharma: Based upon DWP administrative data, we estimate between 60% to 70% of people on Universal Credit in Wansbeck constituency currently have a household income of £7,000 or less. Notes: There may be additional income or support that we have not included in the calculation, such as child benefit or passported benefits. In May 2018, there were 783 individuals claiming Universal Credit in Wansbeck of which 34% were in employment. Universal Credit Full Service is due to roll out later this year.

Social Security Benefits: Children and Young People

Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking through the welfare system to support children and young people with cancer and their families.

Sarah Newton: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 22 May 2018 to Question UIN 144819

Disability Living Allowance: Children

Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will take steps to ensure that children with cancer that are in receipt of disability living allowance have access to financial support that is backdated to the day of their diagnosis after the completion of the three-month qualifying period.

Sarah Newton: Other than for those who are terminally ill, Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is assessed on the basis of the needs arising from a long-term health condition or disability rather than a diagnosis. Primary legislation sets out that a claimant cannot be entitled to DLA for any period prior to the date of claim.

Universal Credit: Cancer

Ronnie Cowan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish the guidance her Department has issued to Case Managers and Work Coaches to ensure they accurately identify people with cancer who apply for universal credit and refer them to a Work Capability Assessment.

Alok Sharma: Universal Credit guidance is published in the House of Commons Library and the Department is committed to refreshing the information on a regular basis. We will shortly be publishing further updated guidance for staff.

Universal Credit

Ronnie Cowan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data her Department collects on the time taken from making a claim to the first payment under universal credit where the claimant has submitted a DS1500; and what the average amount of time people with a DS1500 have had to wait to receive their first universal credit payment.

Alok Sharma: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Universal Credit

Ronnie Cowan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the report, Rolling out Universal Credit, published by the NAO on 15 June 2018, if she will publish the data, by condition, for people waiting longer to be paid the Limited Capability for Work  and Limited Capability for Work-related Activity elements of universal credit.

Alok Sharma: The information requested is not centrally collated and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Children: Maintenance

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department is considering writing off arrears and debts to the claimant and to the public purse when transferring cases from the Child Support Agency to the Child Maintenance Service; and if she will make a statement.

Justin Tomlinson: The Department recently consulted on a new Compliance and Arrears Strategy for the Child Maintenance Service. This contained proposals for new enforcement powers, alongside proposals for addressing the historic arrears that built up under the Child Support Agency. The consultation document can be found here. Our response to this consultation will be published in the near future.

State Retirement Pensions

John McNally: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the report, The impact of state pension reforms on people with guaranteed minimum pensions, published by the National Audit Office in March 2016, what steps her Department has taken to identify people with guaranteed minimum pensions affected by the introduction of the new State Pension; and what guidance her Department has issued to affected people to help them make informed decisions on their future pension arrangements.

Guy Opperman: The impact of recent pension reforms on people who were contracted out of the additional pension system (and therefore have an entitlement to a guaranteed minimum pension as part of their private pension provision) is dependent on personal circumstances, and there are a multitude of scenarios which can result in a range of different outcomes, both positive and negative. It is not, therefore, practical for government to give general advice to this group; and nor is it an effective use of resources to issue personalised advice to everyone in this situation. The best way for someone who is has been contracted out to find out their state pension provision, and therefore plan their overall later life finances, is to use the ‘Check your state pension’ service.The forecasts contained in the Check your State Pension service, as far as is practical, take all impacts into account for an individual when determining their state pension entitlement. Since February 2016, over nine million Check your State Pension forecasts have been viewed.In the paper ‘New State Pension: impact on an individual’s pension entitlement – longer term effects’ published by the Department on 14 January 2016, we said:The final group potentially affected by changes in uprating mechanisms are those who have been contracted-out of the additional pension system at some point in their working life. This is particularly the case where people were contracted-out between 1978/79 and 1987/88. Under the current system these people are awarded an amount of SERPS which is uprated by CPI once in payment. A contracted-out deduction is also made to account for the fact they paid a lower rate of National Insurance, which reduces the amount of SERPS they receive. The individual receives a broadly equivalent amount to the contracted-out deduction of Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) which is paid by the scheme. There is no requirement on schemes under general occupational pensions and social security legislation to uprate GMPs accrued between 1978/79 and 1987/88. Therefore under the current State Pension system contracted-out deductions relating to this period are not uprated. Since SERPs is uprated by CPI, the amount of SERPS received after a contracting-out deduction is made can grow over time. This complex arrangement will end under the new State Pension system and could lead to some people getting a lower notional outcome. However, there are two key factors that offset these potential notional losses. Firstly, this group will be highly likely to benefit from more of their pension being uprated by the triple lock as explained above. Secondly, people with periods of contracting-out on their National Insurance record are likely to be able to build additional qualifying years from 2016/17 which will add 1/35th of the full nSP amount to the amount they receive, up to the full rate.We have reformed the system to replace it with a simpler one for the future which allows people a clear idea early in their careers of what the state will provide, so they can make their own additional savings plans. www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

Personal Independence Payment

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department's press release, personal independence payment assessment guidance updated, published on 2 November 2017, whether the review team has been set up to review claims of people with epilepsy made between 9 March 2017 and 13 November 2017; and when that new guidance was implemented.

Sarah Newton: As outlined in the Written Statement (HCWS793) on 25 June 2018, the Department has begun the administrative exercise to identify claims who may be affected by the Upper Tribunal judgment in RJ, which concerned how we consider whether an activity is carried out safely considers a claimant to be carrying out an activity safely and whether they need supervision to do soconsiders a claimant to be carrying out an activity safely and whether they need supervision to do so. Since November 2017, new claims for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) have been assessed under the new guidance. For further information on the administrative exercise, I refer the Hon. Member to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document that I laid in the House Library on 2 July 2018 (Deposit Reference - DEP2018-0644).

Department for Work and Pensions: Serco

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many current contracts her Department has with Serco; and what the (a) value, (b) start date and (c) end date of each of those contracts is.

Kit Malthouse: The information requested, comprising of 6 contracts, current at the 6th of July 2018, is illustrated in the table below. TitleValueStart DateEnd DateWork Programme - CPA17£47,049,37929/06/201129/09/2021Work Programme - CPA15£77,037,53129/06/201129/09/2021Support for Mortgage Interest Information Provider£5,188,97819/07/201719/01/2019PIP - Contact Centre Service£11,807,00017/10/201629/02/2020Universal Credit Interview Booking Contact Centre Service£8,887,10212/10/201629/07/2018Warm Home Discount Scheme (WHDS)£2,633,00017/08/201503/08/2020North & East London Troubled Families - ESF (England 2014-20)£5,588,14701/12/201616/04/2021

Universal Credit: Disqualification

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants of universal credit were sanctioned in each month of the last year, and how many of those cases involved another person in work in that household.

Alok Sharma: The information requested on the number of sanctioned cases with another person in work in that household is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. The latest sanctions statistics can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/benefit-sanctions-statistics-to-january-2018 Information on Universal Credit sanction decisions can be also found at:https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/ Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html We engage at a personal and individual level with all of our claimants and are committed to tailoring the support that we give, and any conditionality requirements to the specific circumstances of the individuals. When considering whether a sanction is appropriate, a Decision Maker will take all the claimant’s individual circumstances, including any health conditions or disabilities and any evidence of good cause, into account before deciding whether a sanction is warranted.

Employment: Disability

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data her Department is collating on the employment outcomes for disabled people as a result of companies signing up to the disability confident scheme.

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many jobs have been secured by disabled candidates since the Disability Confident scheme’s inception.

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to promote more companies to be Level 3 Disability Confident leaders.

Sarah Newton: Disability Confident, which was formally launched in November 2016, helps employers to improve in their ability to recruit, retain and develop disabled people. Over 6,800 employers have joined the scheme to date. Disability Confident employers make specific commitments, offering a range of job opportunities, work experience, work trials, supported internships etc. In line with the Work and Pensions Select Committees recommendation that the Department commissions an evaluation of the campaign before 2020. My Department is currently developing our proposals to undertake this.As an example of its impact, since becoming Disability Confident, KPMG have been involved in initiatives to create more opportunities for disabled people. For example in their Leeds office, partnering with the Lighthouse futures trust, they are providing 5 young adults with autism a year’s internship at KPMG. They also have a focus on social mobility and a successful apprenticeship program which has helped them widen participation into the professions.The number of disabled people in work has increased by around 600,000 since 2013. It is not possible to attribute the direct impact of Disability Confident on this. Since the launch of the scheme in November 2016, more than 130 employers have progressed to become Disability Confident Leaders (Level 3), including all of the main Government Departments. My Department is running an ongoing campaign to support sign ups to Disability Confident and regularly showcases the work of Disability Confident Leaders (level 3) via case studies on social media. In addition, Disability Confident Leaders encourage and support other employers (level 1 and 2) on their Disability Confident journey through specialist themed events. The Disability Confident Business Leaders Group, comprising prominent national businesses, is also promoting the scheme to other employers.

Children: Maintenance

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants of child maintenance have been exempted from paying the application fee for Collect-and-Pay as a result of domestic abuse.

Justin Tomlinson: Exemption from paying the application fee due to domestic abuse applies to the statutory scheme as a whole, and is applied to applications whether the parent requests Direct Pay or Collect & Pay. The latest statistics on Application Fee Exemptions are published in Table 2 of the Child Maintenance Service: August 2013 to March 2018 (experimental) publication available online at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-maintenance-service-aug-2013-to-mar-2018-experimental

Work Capability Assessment

Neil Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 2 July 2018 to Question 158272 on Work Capability Assessments, for what reason informal observations are included in Work Capability Assessment decisions.

Sarah Newton: As paragraph 2.7.2 of the WCA handbook makes clear informal observations of the claimant form an important part of the assessment. By evaluating the clinical history, the physical examination and informal observations in the light of the claimant's daily activities, the medical disability analyst is able to provide an accurate and consistent assessment of the functional restrictions.The personalised summary statement is a statement of facts and findings made by the Healthcare professional (HCP) and is personal to the claimant.It gives the HCP the opportunity to justify their recommendation on the Limited Capability for Work and Limited Capability for Work-Related Activity activities and descriptors and explain where the recommendation conflicts with the claimant’s view of their condition.

Personal Independence Payment

Neil Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 4 June 2018 to Question 146881 on Personal Independence Payments, for what reason informal observations is a criterion for a decision-makers in coming to a decision.

Sarah Newton: Guidance on how a Health Professional should conduct a face-to-face appointment for Personal Independence Payment (PIP), including what to record in the assessment, is in Part 1of the PIP Assessment Guide. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/684001/pip-assessment-guide-part-1-assessment-process.pdf  Paragraphs 1.6.31 to 1.6.34 make clear that informal observations are an important part of the suite of evidence a Decision Maker will use to help them determine entitlement to benefit. In particular para 1.6.31 states: "Informal observations are of importance to the consultation, as they can reveal abilities and limitations not mentioned in the claimant questionnaire, supporting evidence or during the history taking for the face-to-face consultation. They may also show discrepancies between the reported need and the actual needs of the claimant. However it is important to balance informal observations with evidence from professionals who may have observed the claimant more regularly."

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate he has made of the average time it has taken for Department to resolve a complaint relating to the increase to women's state pension age.

Guy Opperman: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Social Security Benefits: Appeals

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to revise Section 9 of the Social Security Act 1998 to allow payment of benefit when a decision under appeal is revised prior to a hearing, without the claimant having to lapse their appeal.

Sarah Newton: The Department currently has no plans to revise Section 9 of the Social Security Act. The current approach ensures that claimants can receive increased awards at the earliest opportunity, whilst protecting their appeal rights.

Home Office

Asylum: Children

Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many minors who entered the UK after January 2014 under the Dublin Regulation, or as part of the Calais camp clearance in 2016, were granted discretionary leave under rule 352ZC of the immigration rules and were subsequently denied further leave; and what the nationality of these minors was.

Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many children transferred to the UK under s67 of the Immigration Act 2016 (a) have been granted asylum, (b) have been granted discretionary leave, (c) have a pending asylum claim and (d) have been granted any other form of leave.

Caroline Nokes: On arrival into the UK under the EU Dublin Regulation, the expedited family process operated during the clearance of the Calais camp and section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016, all unaccompanied children transferred from Europe claim asylum and their claim is considered in line with our asylum processes.The requested data is not held in a straightforward way on our systems. We are working to see if the data can be extracted from Home Office systems and assured to the right quality for publication.In keeping with our commitments in the legislation under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016, and in line with those granted Refugee or humanitarian protection leave, individuals relocated under section 67 who do not qualify for international protection and who meet the requirements will be granted section 67 of the Immigration Act leave. This means that they will have the right to study, work, access public funds and healthcare and apply for indefinite leave to remain without paying a fee after five years.

Immigrants: Detainees

Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have received compensation from his Department as a result of their unlawful detention in an Immigration Removal Centre in each of the last five years.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office is unable to provide the information requested. The Home Office would have to manually check all compensation payments for the years requested. This would therefore exceed the disproportionate cost threshold.

Cannabis: Medical Treatments

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether children suffering from epilepsy and associated illnesses will be able to apply for emergency use of medical cannabis after receiving the consent of a doctor.

Mr Nick Hurd: We recognise that people suffering from chronic pain and debilitating illnesses will look to alleviate their symptoms. Recent cases have shown that we need to look more closely at the use of cannabis based medicine in healthcare in the UK. That is why the Home Secretary announced on 19 June that there would be a two-part review into the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes.In lieu of the outcomes of this review, a time limited expert panel of clinicians has been set up and will establish a process to assess applications for special licences to prescribe cannabis based medicinal products and, where appropriate, recommend applications to the Home Secretary and the Department of Health in Northern Ireland.Clinicians will be at the heart the process. Any proposal on a course of treatment will be clinically led with evidence based recommendations provided by clinicians. As such the Expert Panel will only consider applications from GMC registered practitioners who are listed on the GMC’s Specialist Register. The panel will not accept applications directly from members of the public or from general practitioners.The expert panel will assess applications for special licences to prescribe cannabis based medicinal products and provide recommendations to the Home Secretary and the Health Secretary for Northern Ireland within 2 to 4 weeks of the submission of a correct and complete application. The Minister will then decide whether a licence should be granted. Provision for cases to be processed more quickly is possible, by convening of a virtual panel comprising a minimum of four members.

Deportation: Afghanistan

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were subject to removal by the Home Office to Afghanistan in 2017.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office only publishes data on the number of returns from the UK, by destination, in table rt_05 of the Immigration Statistics release.The data shows that in 2017, there were 172 returns from the UK to Afghanistan.

Domestic Violence

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on supporting the financial needs of women who escape abusive relationships and consequently lose access to their finances.

Victoria Atkins: Home Office Ministers have met and will continue to meet a range of Ministers across Government to drive forward the Government’s commitment to transform the response to domestic abuse, working towards publication of a draft Domestic Abuse Bill and supporting non-legislative package.On 8 March we launched a 12 week public consultation on proposals for the Bill including creating for the first time a statutory definition of domestic abuse, which will cover psychological, physical, sexual, emotional and economic abuse. The Government has already provided £265,000 to support organisations that raise awareness of economic abuse, and build the understanding and capability of financial organisations to respond, and the consultation asked what more could be done to support victims of economic abuse. The consultation closed on 31 May. Over 3,200 responses to the consultation were received. The responses to the consultation are being considered and a draft Bill will be published later this session.

Home Office: Members

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has imposed a requirement upon constituents to give their consent before matters taken up on their behalf by hon. Members are dealt with; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office handles information collected and processed as part of the borders and immigration system in accordance with the Home Office’s Personal Information Charter. This can be found on the HO at https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/home-office/about/personal-information-charterOur requirements have not changed. We recognise the need to provide MPs with information in order that they can effectively represent their constituents. In doing this in line with the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulations then, as before, we must be satisfied that the MP has authority to act for the individual whose information has been requested prior to releasing that information

Refugees

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria his Department uses to determine whether to accept refugees recommended for resettlement in the UK by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

Caroline Nokes: The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has well-established procedures and criteria for identifying and resettling the most vulnerable refugees. This includes: Legal and or Physical Protection Needs; Survivors of Torture and/or Violence; Medical Needs; Women and Girls at Risk; Family Reunification; Children and Adolescents at Risk and Lack of Foreseeable Alternative Durable Solutions. Further information on UNHCR ‘Submission Categories’ can be found on the UNHCR website http://www.unhcr.org/558bff849.pdfWhen refugees arrive in the UK they have all been through a thorough two-stage vetting process. We retain the right to reject individuals on security, war crimes or other grounds.

Customs: Dover Port

Mrs Helen Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to ensure that the port of Dover is able to manage its customs clearance operations after the UK leaves the EU without increasing the level of administration undertaken by small businesses.

Caroline Nokes: The Government recognises the importance of trade fluidity through the UK’s key ports to the country’s economy, and is committed to ensuring that trade is as frictionless as possible through the Port of Dover, the Channel Tunnel, and the local road network.Government ministers and officials from several departments have met ports and other relevant stakeholders as part of our comprehensive engagement on EU exit. Most of our detailed engagement with ports and stakeholders has taken place in the context of the Border Delivery Group steering group meetings, and in technical workshops.The precise nature of any new customs arrangement will be determined in negotiations with the EU.

Immigrants: Detainees

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many children have been separated from their parents while under immigration detention in each year for which information is available.

Caroline Nokes: Providing the information requested would require a manual check of individual records which could only be done at disproportionate cost.

Fires: Moorland

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what additional support the Government is providing to fire fighters tackling the fire at Saddleworth Moor.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Government is providing the fire and rescue services with the support they need to tackle the Moorland fires at Saddleworth Moor. This has included the provision of 100 soldiers to help fight the fire. The Home Office also funds national resilience assets such as High Volume Pumps and the National Resilience Assurance Team, both of which have responded to this incident.We remain in regular contact with the responders on the ground and are ready to provide further support if required.

Immigration

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the terms of reference are of his Department’s urgent review into DNA tests for immigration applications; what the timescale is for that review; and whether the findings of that review will be published.

Caroline Nokes: The terms of reference of the review are being finalised and I will confirm these in due course.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the additional resources the Independent Chief Inspector for Borders and Immigration will require to monitor EU citizens’ rights.

Caroline Nokes: The Independent Chief Inspector or Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) will continue to inspect the Border and Immigration System, which includes the processing of EU citizens’ cases, as set out in statute and the ICIBI’s published inspection plan covering 2018-2020.The ICIBI is resourced to deliver against this inspection plan, and as such there are no immediate plans to undertake an assessment of additional resource requirements.

Immigration: Applications

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions he has with user groups on the proposed fees for an application for settled status.

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department will provide financial assistance to low-income applicants for settled status.

Caroline Nokes: As I set out in my Statement to the House on the EU Settlement Scheme (OR col X, re June 2018), applications for the EU Settlement Scheme will cost £65 for adults, with a reduced fee of £32.50 for children under 16. There will be no fee for looked after children. The process will be particularly straightforward for those who already hold a valid permanent residence or indefinite leave to remain document, which they will be able to exchange for settled status free of charge.The application process is being designed with users in mind, and the Home Office is engaging regularly with stakeholders. This includes monthly meetings of user groups including those who represent EU citizens in the UK, employers, EU27 consulates and the European Commission, and groups representing vulnerable users, to discuss and understand their needs for the EU Settlement Scheme.We have published the fees now in order to give EU citizens and their family members clarity and sufficient time ahead of the deadline (for those who are resident by 31 December 2020) of 30 June 2021, to apply for documentation.

Alcoholic Drinks: Scotland

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the effect of minimum unit pricing for alcohol in Scotland on sales of cider; and what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of such minimum unit pricing.

Victoria Atkins: The Government has made no assessment of the evidence from minimum unit pricing implementation in Scotland. However, the Government is developing a new cross-government alcohol strategy which will set out targeted action to prevent and reduce harmful drinking, support vulnerable people affected by others’ alcohol misuse, improve the pathway into treatment for people with alcohol dependency and professionalise the licensing system.The new strategy will not include a commitment to introduce minimum unit pricing at this time but Public Health England will be commissioned to carry out a scientific review into the impact of minimum unit pricing following its recent introduction in Scotland.

British Nationality: Applications

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much money has been received by his Department as a result of fees for applications by British-born children to register their right to British citizenship in each of the last five years.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office does not record fees received from applications by British-born children separately to a unique account code within our accounting software, and therefore does not have sufficiently detailed management information to breakdown income into any component categories, for example by spouse/partner/child applications.Amount received from Visa/Citizenship applications are not differentiated between the various categories in which they are received. We do not have a separate code or field for children’s nationality applications. Our ledger will not allow us to provide this level of detail.

UK Visas and Immigration Lost Documents Working Group

Sir Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will publish a list of the (a) dates and (b) attendees of each meeting of the UK Visas and Immigration Lost Documents Working Group since November 2017.

Caroline Nokes: The Lost Documents Group was formed in January 2018 as a response to an MPs Event in which the loss of documents within UKVI was discussed. The group is comprised of representatives from each document-handling department within UKVI, and they meet on a monthly basis to discuss improvement suggestions and issues with the Lost Documents processes within UKVI.

UK Visas and Immigration Lost Documents Working Group

Sir Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Officials in his Department are working (a) full-time and (b) part-time on the UKVI Lost Documents Working Group; and what the (i) grade and (ii) salary range is of those officials.

Caroline Nokes: The loss of documents is taken very seriously by the Home Office and is the responsibility of all those handling documents to ensure processes are followed to deliver the work of the Lost Documents Working Group. It is therefore not possible to provide the information requested

UK Visas and Immigration Lost Documents Working Group

Sir Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the UK Visas and Immigration Lost Documents Working Group plans to publish a report of its findings; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Nokes: The terms and conditions of the work of the Lost Documents Working Group is being finalised and the Home Office will report back on progress of the group’s activities and the improvements being made.

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Assembly: Members

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to her oral contribution of 21 March 2018, Official Report, column 337, if she will publish the representations made to her by each of the main political parties on cutting MLA salaries; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has received no written representations from the political parties on the issue of MLA pay, and is carefully considering all the issues and will set out the next steps on this matter in due course.

Northern Ireland Assembly: Members

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, which of the Northern Ireland political parties objects to the salaries of MLA's being cut in the continued absence of a functioning Northern Ireland Assembly; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Shailesh Vara: It would be a matter for the political parties to give their public position on the issue of MLA pay. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is carefully considering all the issues and will set out the next steps on this matter in due course.

Treasury

Treasury: Correspondence

Ian Lavery: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what time target his Department has for the answer of Departmental correspondence relating to constituency cases.

Robert Jenrick: The Treasury’s target to answer correspondence relating to constituency cases is 15 working days. In 2017 we achieved this in 77% of cases.

Incinerators: Taxation

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential benefits to the (a) public purse and (b) environment of the introduction of an incineration tax.

Robert Jenrick: The government recently concluded a call for evidence on whether the tax system or charges could help reduce single-use plastic waste. As part of this, a number of respondents suggested the potential for an incineration tax in order to increase levels of recycling. The government will consider the arguments for and against such a tax, alongside all the other options, in order to deliver the right environmental outcomes. The government will outline the next steps in this process in due course.

Interest Rates

Kate Hollern: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Governor of the Bank of England on the effect of Government use of the retail price index on the Bank of England base rate.

Elizabeth Truss: The Governor of the Bank of England and the Chancellor discuss economic and financial developments on a regular basis.

Child Tax Credit

Tom Tugendhat: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many households in each English region were eligible for child tax credit as of 5 April 2017.

Tom Tugendhat: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many households in each English region have taken up Child Tax Credit since that policy's introduction.

Elizabeth Truss: Information relating to the number of households eligible for child tax credits as of 5th April 2017 can only be made available at a disproportionate cost. The latest statistics available, for 2016-17, relating to the take-up rate of working tax credit and child tax credit by region can be found by following the link below to Table 9:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/666846/Child_Benefit__Child_Tax_Credit_and_Working_Tax_Credit_Take-up_rates_201....pdf  Producing statistics relating to the number of unique households that have benefitted from child tax credit, by region, since its introduction can only be made available at disproportionate cost.

Public Health: West Midlands

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on changes in the level of funding for public health services in the Coventry and Rugby Clinical Commissioning Group area since 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Elizabeth Truss: In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of ministerial discussions are not normally disclosed.

VAT: Small Businesses

Mrs Helen Grant: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how small businesses will manage their VAT arrangements with EU customers after the UK leaves the EU; and what assessment he has made of the potential effect of those new arrangements on the level of administration undertaken by those businesses.

Mel Stride: The Government’s aim is to keep VAT processes as close as possible to what they are now. This will provide the best continuity and most certainty for small businesses. Our future relationship with the EU is subject to further negotiations.

Child Care Vouchers

Alex Cunningham: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 2 July 2018 to Question 157736, whether people using childcare vouchers are able to use that voucher scheme alongside (a) the childcare element to working tax credit and (b) universal credit.

Elizabeth Truss: Parents cannot claim Universal Credit or tax credits for the same childcare they are using childcare vouchers to fund. However, if a Universal Credit or tax credit claimant requires more childcare than their vouchers pay for, they can claim any additional amounts through Universal Credit or tax credits, provided they meet the eligibility conditions and can provide evidence of payments. The government has increased the support for working parents on Universal Credit who can now get up to 85% of their childcare costs paid. Parents on tax credits get up to 70% of their childcare costs paid. This means the majority of Universal Credit and tax credits claimants are better off getting help through these schemes than through the childcare voucher scheme.Many Universal Credit and tax credits claimants aren’t able to get childcare vouchers as the majority of schemes are run through salary sacrifice. You cannot salary sacrifice below the National Minimum Wage so those claimants earning close to this level aren’t able to get childcare vouchers.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Culture: Marketing

Giles Watling: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent steps his Department has taken to promote UK arts and culture overseas.

Michael Ellis: We are taking a number of steps to promote UK arts and culture overseas, including through the GREAT campaign, annual Seasons of Culture, formal cultural agreements with other governments and through our membership of UNESCO. Ministers also undertake regular international visits to champion British arts organisations working in other countries and hold frequent dialogues with counterparts from key partner countries. The department works in close partnership with FCO, the British Council and DIT to ensure the UK culture sector is well supported and promoted by our embassies in countries around the world. DCMS is also a leading contributor to the government’s forthcoming Soft Power Strategy, which is due to be published later this year.

Ticketmaster

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to help ensure that (a) the recent data breach of Ticketmaster and (b) other data breaches do not reoccur; and if he will make a statement.

Margot James: The Government takes both the protection of personal data and the right to privacy extremely seriously. The Data Protection Act 2018 makes our data protection laws fit for the digital age in which an ever increasing amount of data is being processed and empowers people to take control of their data. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) issued a statement on the Ticketmaster breach on 27th June and guidance for customers was issued on its website on the 28th June. The National Crime Agency and NCSC continue to investigate this incident as a priority, including working with all parties to ascertain the full scale of the incident and to provide ongoing remediation advice. As part of this and broader mitigation advice, the NCSC and Information Commissioner’s Office have issued a set of General Data Protection Regulation Security Outcomes in order to ensure the appropriate security of personal data. The NCSC supports the most critical organisations in the UK, the wider public sector, industry and SMEs. This include the provision of freely available guidance on its website which, if followed, enables institutions and companies to put measures in place to help protect themselves from cyber attacks. When incidents do occur, the NCSC provides effective incident response to minimise harm to the UK, help with recovery, and learn lessons for the future.

Ticketmaster

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Information Commissioners Office has plans to undertake an investigation into the data breach by Ticket Master.

Margot James: The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) have been made aware of an issue concerning Ticketmaster and I can confirm that the Information Commissioner is making enquiries with the company. The ICO is looking at when the incident happened and when it was discovered as part of their work and this will inform whether it is dealt with under the 1998 or 2018 Data Protection Acts.

Advertising: Eating Disorders

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has plans to encourage advertisers to promote healthy body images.

Margot James: We recognise that the pressure on young people to achieve an idealised body image is a serious issue, with wide-reaching consequences for their mental and physical wellbeing. As set out in in the recently published Government response to the Internet Safety Strategy Green Paper, we are taking forward work on positive body image. This work will build on the commitments made in the Government response to the recent Youth Select Committee report which highlighted that increased time spent online can lead to increased exposure to images of unattainable and unrealistic beauty. The Government is also developing a package of work to tackle harmful gender norms which can occur both online and offline. This will include work with the advertising industry to encourage stereotype-free advertising.

Sports: Tickets

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department has plans to encourage sports clubs to offer family package deals on match tickets.

Tracey Crouch: The cost of attending live sport for all ages is something that must be kept under constant review, and we support a fair deal for fans, but respect that ticket-pricing policies should remain a matter for event hosts. The Government's sport strategy, Sporting Future, recognises how attending live sporting events can benefit individuals, communities and the wider sporting economy. Ten major sporting events supported by UK Sport saw over 1.1 million people attend in 2017, including the IAAF World Championships in London, where over 100,000 children under 16 attended at a ticket price of £9.58, signifying Usain Bolt's 100m world record. The World Para Athletics Championships similarly saw over 100,000 schoolchildren attend, with 30,000 children being transported free of charge by Transport for London as part of a two session ring-fenced school project. The men's and women's World Series Triathlons held in Leeds in June also attracted over 50,000 spectators who were able to enjoy the events for free.  Football clubs are also offering concessions on ticket prices and associated costs for all fans, including younger supporters, which the recent BBC Price of Football 2017 study highlighted. Overall, English Football League (EFL) figures show that junior season ticket sales have increased by 37% over the past 10 years with 20% of all EFL club match attendees now under 16 years old. Premier League clubs have capped the cost of away tickets to £30 up until 2019, and clubs are helping more with concessions on travel.

ICT and Television: Disability

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to ensure the fair and proportionate representation of disabled people in digital and television media.

Margot James: Our media should reflect the population as a whole. That is why the government has ensured that the BBC’s operating licence stipulates that it must reflect the UK population in its services and its output. The Communications Act 2003 also ensures that Ofcom has the power to promote equality of opportunity for disabled people in television and radio. Government strongly supports industry led monitoring schemes, which can stimulate change by highlighting underrepresentation and urges the wider media sector to improve their diversity monitoring and reporting to bring about change.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

UK Intellectual Property Office: Standards

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the average length of time was for an application for a patent submitted to the Intellectual Property Office to be (a) granted and (b) dismissed in each year since 2010.

Mr Sam Gyimah: (a) For patents granted in the years 2010-2018, the average time from filing of the patent application to grant was:-Grant YearDays to GrantApprox Months to Grant2010107135201110773520121015332013923302014954312015103834201611203720171186392018124141 (b) Few unsuccessful patent applications are formally dismissed, with most simply expiring through failure to comply with the Patents Act within a prescribed period. Measurement of this time period does not, therefore provide a meaningful metric.

UK Intellectual Property Office: Staff

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many staff were employed at the Intellectual Property Office in each year since 2010.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The headcount at the Intellectual Property Office from 01 April 2010 is as follows: DateHeadcount01/04/201090701/04/201189901/04/201292001/04/201398201/04/2014101701/04/2015110801/04/2016116901/04/2017117101/04/20181215

UK Intellectual Property Office: Standards

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many applications for a patent lodged at the Intellectual Property Office have been pending a decision for over (a) two, (b) three and (c) 4 years.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The number of patent applications which have been pending a decision for over two, three and four years are: (a) Over two years: 8233(b) Over three years: 3863(c) Over four years: 1241 The IPO has a Ministerial Target, offering faster handling of patent applications by providing an examination report with a search report when both are requested at the application date, and meeting at least 90% of requests for an accelerated two-month turnaround for search, publication and examination. All requests to receive the search and examination reports together are acceded to; and 97% of all accelerated examination requests have been completed within 2 months of request for the current financial year.

Advanced Gas-cooled Reactors: Decommissioning

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure the adequacy of generating capacity after the Advanced Gas-cooled Reactors are decommissioned in 2023.

Richard Harrington: The Capacity Market is securing the capacity required to meet peak electricity demand through auctions held four and one year ahead of delivery. It supports technically reliable existing plant to remain in the market and, as coal and other ageing plant retire, it strengthens incentives for new plant to be financed and built. The Capacity Market has already secured over 5.4GW of new build capacity for delivery between 2018/19 and 2021/22. Alongside traditional gas generation, significant levels of alternative, innovative new capacity, such as demand-side response (DSR) and battery storage, has been brought forward. This wide range of new resources is helping deliver the security, reliability and flexibility that the country needs. Other measures being taken to ensure the security of electricity supply include the broadening of the UK’s generation base through the deployment of new nuclear generation, with Hinkley Point C under construction, and offshore wind.

EURATOM Supply Agency: Contracts

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on contracts held by UK businesses under the Euratom Supply Agency.

Richard Harrington: Under Euratom Treaty arrangements, businesses based in Euratom Member States are required to seek approval from the Euratom Supply Agency to conclude contracts for the supply of nuclear materials. When the UK leaves the Euratom Community, UK businesses will only be subject to these arrangements for supply contracts involving businesses in a Euratom Member State. The EU position is that, in a “no deal” scenario, these contracts would require re-approval once the UK is no longer part of the Euratom Community, as set out in the EU’s Notice to Stakeholders published on 28 March 2018[1]. The UK has raised this as a priority issue with the European Commission, as set out in the UK’s position paper on Nuclear materials and safeguards issues, published on 13 July 2017[2]. This remains an issue of concern to the nuclear industry in both the UK and in the wider EU. There are positive signs that the Commission are seeking ways to address the problem, and the UK will continue to press for a solution that does not lead to any additional costs or inconvenience to industry. [1] https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/euratom_en[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nuclear-materials-and-safeguards-issues-position-paper

Utilities: Regulation

Kate Hollern: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the implications for the Government's policies on the regulation of privatised utilities of the report by Ofwat entitled Putting the sector back in balance – summary of Ofwat’s decision on issues for PR19 business plans, published on 3 July 2018; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Griffiths: Economic regulators are statutorily independent. It is for regulators to decide how to regulate the companies in the sectors for which they are responsible, in line with their duties. The Government is fully committed to a model of private ownership with strong independent economic regulation.

Aerospace Industry: Employment

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many people are employed in the aerospace industry in (a) each English Region, (b) Wales, (c) Northern Ireland and (d) Scotland.

Richard Harrington: BEIS estimates (based on 2017 ONS data) that there are currently 123,000 people employed in the UK aerospace industry. This cannot be broken down by region. On the same basis, there were 121,000 jobs in 2016. The ONS Business Registers and Employment Survey for 2016 (the latest year that data is available) does provide rounded estimates of regional employment - however owing to less complete coverage, this source reports a lower employment total of 114,000 in 2016. The breakdown of this, covering each English region, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales is set out in the table below:Employment in the Manufacture, maintenance and repair of Aircraft  Region/CountryEmployment 2016%North East1,8002%North West15,90014%Yorkshire and The Humber1,5001%East Midlands18,60016%West Midlands6,9006%East10,0009%London1,8002%South East11,50010%South West22,50020%Wales12,00011%Scotland4,5004%Northern Ireland7,0006%England91,00080%UK114,000100%

Aerospace Industry: Research

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much funding his Department has allocated to aerospace research and development in each of the last five years.

Richard Harrington: We have allocated funding £150m a year for aerospace research and development in each year from 2013 to 2018. Our competitive process for selecting and delivering projects is supported by the Aerospace Technology Institute and Innovate UK (now part of UKRI). In addition, aerospace companies can bid for relevant industry-wide competitions and schemes run by UKRI, supported by the Department.

Aerospace Industry: Scotland

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to support SMEs in Scotland to access the aerospace industry supply chain.

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support the Government is providing to the aerospace industry in Scotland to create more highly skilled jobs.

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has met representatives of the Scottish Government to discuss aerospace industry priorities in Scotland.

Richard Harrington: We are working closely with the Scottish Government, through Scottish Enterprise, to tackle barriers to growth, boost exports and grow high-value skilled jobs in Scotland, in support of companies of all sizes, including small and medium sized enterprises. This is backed with a UK wide industry strategy which is integral to Scotland’s own industrial strategy for aerospace, defence, marine & security. Support from the Department is provided through the £1.95billion committed to new UK aerospace research and technology, out to 2026, which is matched by industry; and the £250m Sharing in Growth intensive performance improvement programme, focussing support to SMEs. Other R&D provisions are also available, for example Innovate UK has committed £45,883,111 in core grant funding to the Advance Forming Research Centre since 1st October 2011 - and up to 31st March 2019 - through the High Value Manufacturing Catapult. On top of this core funding, AFRC has been in receipt of separate, competitively-won funding from Innovate UK by being part of consortia that have made successfully bids through our various CR&D competitions. BEIS officials are in regular contact and meetings with officials in Scottish Enterprise responsible for supporting aerospace in Scotland to discuss aerospace priorities in Scotland and new investment opportunities.

Motor Vehicles: Exports

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions has he had with representatives of car manufacturers in the EU on continuing to use British made car parts after the UK leaves the EU.

Richard Harrington: There has been cross-government engagement with key businesses operating in the UK and EU across the automotive sector since the referendum. The Department is working closely with the Department for Exiting the EU to understand the impacts that withdrawal from the EU will have on businesses, consumers and other economic actors on both sides of the channel. As my rt. hon. Friend the Prime Minister has said we will work hard to get the best deal for Britain.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Devolution: Yorkshire and the Humber

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when his Department plans to respond to the Yorkshire Devolution Agreement Submission in March 2018.

Jake Berry: My Rt Honourable Friend, the Secretary of State, responded on 9 July to the outline proposals for devolution to authorities within Yorkshire which 18 council leaders submitted on 5 March 2018. His response makes clear that whilst we are prepared to consider any proposals, until the Sheffield City Region devolution deal is fully implemented, the Government is not prepared to enter into any discussion about wider devolution arrangements in Yorkshire that would include some or all of the Sheffield City Region authorities. I am in informal discussions with the newly elected mayor for that City Region who is looking to work closely with us to unlock the benefits of devolution – first to implement the 2015 Sheffield City Region devolution agreement.

Energy: Housing

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many houses in the UK have an Energy Performance Certificate of (a) E or lower and (b) D or higher.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The following data has been taken from Table D1 in the Energy Performance of Buildings Certificates in England and Wales: 2008 to March 2018 statistical release. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/energy-performance-of-buildings-certificatesDomestic England and Wales properties with D rating or higher – 13,167,000Domestic England and Wales properties with E Rating or lower – 4,280,000The data is for the period up to and including March 2018.Scottish and Northern Ireland figures will be available from the Scottish and Northern Ireland Governments.

Rented Housing: Energy Performance Certificates

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 9 November 2017 to Question 151139 on Energy Performance Certificates, and the Answer of 15 June 2018 to Question 111244 on Energy Performance Certificates, if he will publish the conclusions reached on levels of compliance with Energy Performance Certificates for the rental sector during each calendar year from 2008-9 to 2016-17; and if he will make a statement.

Kit Malthouse: It is the responsibility of the person selling or renting a building to ensure that an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is made available. Data on the numbers of EPCs lodged is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-energy-performance-of-buildings-certificates. This includes data on energy performance certificates lodged for the purposes of a private rental. However, the Government does not hold data about the number of buildings in the private rented sector for which an EPC should have been made available but has not been.

Private Rented Housing: Electrical Safety

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals on mandatory electrical safety checks in the private rented sector in England.

James Brokenshire: We are committed to ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to live in a home that is safe and decent. The Department recently held a public consultation on the introduction of mandatory electrical safety checks in the private rented sector. We expect to announce our next steps shortly.

Electrical Safety: Vulnerable Adults

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing free electrical safety checks for vulnerable groups.

James Brokenshire: Our recent public consultation on electrical safety in the private rented sector produced just under 600 responses, including from a mix of stakeholders including tenant groups. The responses are currently being analysed and an announcement will be made in due course.

Help to Buy Scheme

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 29 June 2018 to Question 154737 on Help to Buy Scheme, which of the 26 developers referred to in that Answer have not confirmed they will meet that expectation; and if will he place in the Library copies of all the responses received.

Kit Malthouse: The Government is committed to working with developers to help improve practices across the leasehold market. This includes actively monitoring the use of Government funding and considering further courses of action that could be taken if our expectations are not fully met. The Government is not able to publish names of developers referred to in Question UIN 154737 or place copies of responses in the Library, due to commercial sensitivities.

Housing Revenue Accounts

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy to extend to all local authorities the permission to bid for additional housing revenue account borrowing to build new council housing.

Kit Malthouse: Holding answer received on 06 July 2018



104 of the 166 local authorities with a Housing Revenue Account are in an area of high affordability pressure and so are eligible to bid for the additional borrowing programme. We will review how authorities respond to this opportunity, and consider whether any further action is needed.

Housing: Construction Methods

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 4 June 2018 to Question 147325, whether his Department plans undertake research into modern methods of construction.

Nigel Adams: The Department is considering its research plans on matters covered by building regulations, in the light of the recommendations of the Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety by Dame Judith Hackitt.

Buildings

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many (a) public residential, (b) private residential, (c) public non-residential and (d) private non-residential properties over 18 meters there are.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: We estimate that there are over 6,000 high-rise private-sector buildings in England. Every month the Department publishes its latest figures in a data release. The latest can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-safety-programme-monthly-data-release-june-2018. We are considering what further information it may be appropriate to release.Data on total numbers of public residential and public and private non-residential high-rise buildings are not held centrally.The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has been working with local authorities to collect data on additional private sector buildings with similar combinations of Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding and insulation to those which have failed large-scale system tests, but which have not been tested by Building Research Establishment (BRE). Local authorities have assessed over 6,000 high rise private sector residential buildings using a combination of information from local fire and rescue services, building plans, ACM tests undertaken elsewhere, knowledge of similar buildings where BRE tests have confirmed ACM, and building inspections. These figures could change over the coming months as further clarity is sought.

Social Rented Housing: North West

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to support the building of new social housing in the (a) North West and (b) Wirral.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: We have announced a range of measures to support housing associations and local authorities to build more genuinely affordable homes where they are needed most.We are providing over £9 billion funding for the Affordable Homes Programme, which will deliver a wide range of housing for a wide range of people.We have confirmed long-term rent certainty for social landlords in England and announced that we will be providing councils with £1 billion of additional borrowing to deliver homes where demand is greatest. In March we announced plans to consult on options for allowing local authorities more flexibility in the use of their Right to Buy receipts.We have recently announced a series of Strategic Partnerships between Homes England and housing associations, which will deliver over 1500 additional affordable homes in the North West by March 2022. One partnership solely delivering in the North West is the £29.2 million package with Great Places, which will deliver 750 additional affordable homes, including some at social rent in areas of high affordability pressure. This is a 36 per cent increase on existing plans.Since 2010, we have delivered over 378,000 new affordable homes including over 273,000 affordable homes for rent. The Department does not publish delivery information on a regional basis.

Ministry of Defence

Moorland: Fires

Christian Matheson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK military helicopters have been used to fight moorland fires in Lancashire and Greater Manchester to date.

Mark Lancaster: No Military helicopters have been used in support of the firefighting efforts in Lancashire and Greater Manchester. Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) did, at the outset of the incident, request the support of an RAF Chinook helicopter. However, after an early scene assessment on the morning of 28 July GMFRS notified the Ministry of Defence that the planned helicopter support was no longer necessary. As with all major incidents, military liaison officers remain engaged at the local level, providing advice and support.

Intelligence Services: International Cooperation

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to preserve the UK's alliance with its Five Eyes partners.

Mark Lancaster: Our relationship with the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand is, and will remain, of utmost importance to the United Kingdom. The relationship is steeped in history and underpinned by mutual trust, respect and shared values. The defence cooperation between our Five Eyes partners is collectively the broadest, deepest and most advanced of any grouping of nations. The relationship is and will remain mutually supportive; we each make a significant and enduring contribution to dealing with the global security challenges which we collectively face. We have a long-standing intelligence relationship, a burden sharing approach to operations, peace and security, and we are continually working towards long-term interoperability.The Secretary of State for Defence has an excellent relationship with each of the Defence Secretaries from the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand; they talk and meet regularly - both bi-laterally and as a group. He is committed to preserving and deepening this relationship.

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that fitness standards are not reduced for recruits as a result of ground close combat roles now being open to women.

Mark Lancaster: There will be no lowering of standards as a result of Ground Close Combat roles being open to women.We take the health and fitness standards of our personnel extremely seriously and constantly seek to apply the latest physiological science to modernise and improve the way we train them to meet the demands of the roles they are employed in, regardless of gender.As part of a physiological research programme, the Services have been working with experts to ensure its physical training methods, along with the right balance of rest, hydration and nutrition, physically prepare our personnel in the best way. The programme will deliver robust gender free selection and in-service fitness standards, and improved methods for conducting physical training and testing to match the capabilities of the individuals with the duties they need to perform. Importantly, it will also reduce the risk of musculoskeletal injuries.

EU Defence Policy

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure the independence of UK armed forces within the European Intervention Initiative.

Mark Lancaster: The European Intervention Initiative does not affect the independence of UK Armed Forces in any way. It is a flexible, non-binding forum, that provides a framework for increased co-operation between participating European states. It is not a standing force.It aims to improve information sharing, planning and co-ordination of deployments to save time and make sure work is not duplicated when tackling common threats and challenges. The decision on whether to participate in its specific activities rests with us at all times.

European Defence Fund

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what involvement the UK is planned to have in the EU's new defence fund and defence industrial programme.

Guto Bebb: As the Prime Minister stated in Munich, the UK wants to agree a future relationship with the European Defence Fund, including the European Industrial Development Programme. The UK has always participated in European collaborative programmes and we support this new mechanism for managing collaboration.Our track record shows we have much to offer and our defence industry is world-class. We have a key role to play in European defence and security.We are open to considering all options for participation in the EDF and the Government will be guided by what delivers the greatest economic advantage to the UK and UK industry.

Rifles

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when his Department is planning to replace the current SA80 standard service rifle.

Guto Bebb: The Ministry of Defence is currently upgrading 5,000 SA80 A2 models to the A3 model, with the intent to upgrade more weapons in the future. This upgrade delivers significant enhancements whilst extending the out of service date beyond 2025. No decision has been taken on the replacement of the SA80 A3 model.

Armed Forces

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that the UK remains a tier one military power.

Gavin Williamson: This Government is absolutely committed to maintaining the UK's status as a 'tier 1' military power. The plans and policies set out in the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review confirmed our commitment to maintain our world leading military status, and the Modernising Defence Programme aims to strengthen Defence and our Armed Forces further.

Air Training Corps: Finance

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on funding for (a) Air Training Corps sites and (b) the Air Training Corps site in Baginton, Coventry.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Holding answer received on 09 July 2018



The Ministry of Defence has regular discussions with Her Majesty's Treasury.

NATO

Giles Watling: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions he has had with his US counterpart on the importance of NATO members’ financial and capability commitments to that organisation.

Gavin Williamson: US Secretary of Defense, Jim Mattis, and I agree that all NATO members must fulfil their commitment to the the Defence Investment Pledge, contribute to the Alliance's operations and missions, and support its work to adapt its structures and ways of working. In this way we can achieve a modern, united Alliance, fit to face the challenges of today and the future, that delivers on the commitments that Allies have made. This will be discussed again at the NATO Summit on 11-12 July.

Scotland Office

Airbus SAS: Scotland

Lesley Laird: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of Airbus in relation to that companies investment decisions in the UK after the UK leaves the EU.

David Mundell: My Department and others continue to have discussions with Airbus and other sector leaders. Airbus is an important business to the UK economy and the Scottish economy. We will continue to have discussions with them to ensure that their voices are heard and that their views are taken into consideration.

Airbus SAS: Scotland

Lesley Laird: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent estimate he has made of the number of (a) jobs and (b) companies in the Airbus supply chain in Scotland; and where those (i) jobs and (ii) companies are located.

David Mundell: The Government is working closely with companies to understand their concerns ahead of leaving the EU, and alongside industry will invest almost £4 billion for R&D by 2026 to ensure the UK remains a world leader in civil aerospace. Airbus is extremely important to the success of the UK and the Scottish economy. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy works closely with Airbus and other businesses around the UK in carrying out analysis. According to the latest data we hold that was published in June 2017, Airbus contributes over £540m to the Scottish economy and accounts for around 8,000 jobs both directly and indirectly.

Department for International Trade

Solar Power: Import Duties

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what plans the Government has to remove external tariffs on technical parts and components required for solar technology once the UK has left the EU.

George Hollingbery: The Department for International Trade published a call for evidence on the 28 November 2017 with the aim of identifying which UK businesses produce goods currently subject to anti-dumping, or anti-subsidy measures, or to on-going investigations related to these.It asked those businesses to state whether they support, are neutral to, or oppose the maintaining of those measures, when the UK begins to operate its independent trade remedy framework. It asked for data about those businesses’ production and sales, and total UK production and sales.Measures which meet the criteria set out in the call for evidence will be maintained once the UK begins to operate its independent trade remedy framework. Measures which do not meet the criteria will be terminated – cutting unnecessary costs for UK businesses and consumers.The Call for Evidence closed on 30 March 2018. However, we continue to invite other interested parties to provide relevant information for measures of interest to them. This will enable us to make an accurate assessment of applications to maintain measures.

Import Duties: USA

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent discussions he has had with members of the Northern Ireland Civil Service on the effect of the introduction of steel and aluminium tariffs by the US Administration on Northern Ireland.

George Hollingbery: Ministers and officials from the Department for International Trade are in regular contact with representatives from the Devolved Administrations including the Northern Ireland Executive on a range of trade issues, including the imposition of these tariffs.The Government continues to press for a permanent EU exemption from what the Prime Minister has described as an ‘unjustified and deeply disappointing’ decision. The UK has been fully supportive of the EU’s imposition of countermeasures.

Overseas Trade: North Korea

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what discussions he has had with the Government of North Korea to improve economic links with that country.

Graham Stuart: My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade has not held any discussions with the Government of North Korea. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) commitment to work towards complete denuclearisation is an important step towards a more stable and prosperous future for the people of the DPRK. Until the DPRK takes concrete steps towards complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearisation, the UK will continue to strictly enforce existing sanctions in coordination with its international partners.

Import Duties: USA

Hugh Gaffney: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment he has made of the proportionality of the EU's counter-measures to US tariffs on steel and aluminium.

George Hollingbery: The EU’s rebalancing measures are a proportional and justified response to US tariffs on steel and aluminium, designed to prevent escalation. The Commission has said it will revise the list commensurately to any product exemptions received. Member States will have a say, through the Trade Barriers Committee, on any revised list.We will continue to seek a constructive, permanent resolution with the US to avoid further escalation that would harm businesses and consumers in both the US and EU.

Overseas Trade: Kenya

Stephen Kerr: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what plans his Department has to encourage bilateral trade with Kenya.

Graham Stuart: My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade recently appointed the first ever HM Trade Commissioner for Africa, to champion trade between the UK and Africa. In Kenya, we are promoting bilateral trade opportunities in many areas, including infrastructure and energy.The Department for International Trade works closely with the British Chamber of Commerce in Kenya, which works to support UK companies seeking to enter and grow in the market.The full range of UK Export Finance support is available for UK exports to Kenya, with financing available in Kenyan Shilling for purchases from UK exporters.Senior level talks on the bilateral trading relationship are ongoing to ensure continuity in market access arrangements post-EU exit.

Trade Agreements

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many countries have stated that their free trade agreements with the United Kingdom which are contingent on its membership of the EU will (a) be rolled over during a transition period and (b) continue once that period is over.

George Hollingbery: Department for International Trade indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Overseas Trade: Developing Countries

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a scheme of tariff-free trade for less developed countries after the UK leaves the EU similar to the Generalised Scheme of Preferences the UK currently participates in through its EU membership.

George Hollingbery: Department for International Trade indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Dumping

Mr Simon Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what provision he plans to introduce within the UK’s independent trade remedies framework for the calculation of dumping margins in circumstances in which the standard methodology may not be appropriate.

George Hollingbery: We are committed to protecting UK industry where it is suffering injury as a result of dumped imports. Secondary legislation will introduce provisions to tackle those cases concerning countries where there are particular market situations. Those situations occur when it is not possible to use the domestic prices in the exporting country to calculate the dumping margin, because prices and input costs do not reflect competitive market conditions. In such cases the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) will be able to use alternative methodologies. These alternative methodologies will include the use of export prices to an appropriate third country, provided they are representative, and will enable the TRA to construct the prices on the basis of cost of production, selling, general and admin costs and profit. Secondary legislation will also provide that the exporter’s cost data may be adjusted, where justified on a case by case basis, based on among other things prices from a representative country.We will set out in secondary legislation examples of situations, such as where prices are artificially low, for example as a result of government intervention, where significant barter trade exists, or where non-commercial processing arrangements occur. Other economies, such as the EU and the US, have similar mechanisms in place to protect the domestic industry from unfair trade practices and the UK will be no different.

Women and Equalities

Elections: Disability

Cat Smith: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to the Written Statement of 17 May 2018, HCWS695, whether those funds are available to parliamentary candidates seeking (a) to stand in any parliamentary by-elections that may occur between June 2018 and May 2019 and (b) to stand for selection for a parliamentary seat that is selecting in the next 12 months ahead of the next General Election.

Cat Smith: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to the Written Statement of 17 May 2018, HCWS695, whether new legislation is required before funds are administered to disabled candidates for local elections in May 2019.

Cat Smith: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, pursuant to Written Ministerial Statement of 17 May 2019 on Access to Elected Office for Disabled People, HCWS695 if she will meet with the cross-party campaign group More United and the three parliamentary candidates who are campaigning for the restoration of the Access to Elected Office Fund.

Cat Smith: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference the Government 's recent evaluation of the 2012-2015 Access to Elected Office Fund, for what reason the Government has allocated funding for only 12 months.

Penny Mordaunt: As I stated on 17 May this year, the Government believes that political parties have the prime responsibility for supporting their disabled candidates. There will be ways that the Government can help, which is why I announced that the Government Equalities Office will, with others, undertake a programme of work in this area. Within 12 months, we hope to have political parties offering and advertising support, as well as solutions to help independent candidates. Disability stakeholders including More United will be consulted as part of this work. The funding of up to £250,000 that I announced is intended to provide support for disabled candidates in the interim, while that programme of work is on-going. This fund will primarily support the forthcoming English local elections in 2019, but similar arrangements for any parliamentary by-elections that occur until May 2019, will be considered on a case-by-case basis. My officials are liaising with the Cabinet Office, which is responsible for electoral law, on any measures that may be required to ensure grants from the fund are not considered to be part of a candidate’s election expenses.

Homosexuality: Psychiatry

Kate Hollern: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps the Government plans to take to make gay conversion therapy illegal; and if she will make a statement.

Victoria Atkins: This Government is clear that so-called conversion or reparative therapies are wrong. Being LGBT is not an illness, and LGBT people do not need to be “cured”.On 3 July 2018, the Government published the results from last year’s national LGBT survey. We were shocked to find that 2% of respondents to the survey had undertaken conversion therapy, and a further 5% had been offered it.These practices have no place in our society, and we are committed to ending these activities. We have now published an LGBT Action Plan responding to the findings from the national survey.As part of the action plan, we have committed to exploring all legislative and non-legislative options to end this abhorrent practice. We will bring forward proposals to prevent promoting, offering or practicing these heinous acts.

Females: Equality

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what consultations are being carried out with government departments on their progress in implementing the Sustainable Development Goal 5.

Victoria Atkins: This Government is committed to gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, and we are one of the countries who pushed hard for a standalone Sustainable Development Goal on gender. The Minister for Women and Equalities regularly meets with ministerial colleagues to promote the development of domestic policy that is consistent with our commitments under Sustainable Development Goal 5. Planning for the delivery of the Goals is embedded into the Single Departmental Plan for each government department. Reporting against Single Departmental Plans includes evidence of progress in implementing the Goals, allowing the Department for International Development and the Cabinet Office to track delivery.

Department for Transport

Bus Service Operators Grant: Eligibility

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has plans to allow (a) electric battery, (b) hybrid and (c) hydrogen-fuelled buses to be eligible for the Bus Service Operators Grant.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Hybrid buses are eligible for both the bus service operators grant and the low carbon emission bus incentive depending on what fuel is used. The government wishes to increase the uptake of ultra-low and zero emission buses, and will look at possible changes to incentivise this during stage 2 of the bus service operators grant reform process.

Merchant Shipping

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average age has been of merchant ships using UK ports in each year since 2010 up to the most recent year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The table gives the average age of trading vessels that arrived at UK ports in each year from 2010 to 2016. Age of trading vessels arriving at UK ports: 2010 to 2016 YearNumber of vesselsAverage age in years1,220106,6981120116,8301020126,5891020136,4331020146,2181120156,1521120166,148111. Average age is calculated based on the calendar year and year of build of the vessels2. Calculation excludes a small number of vessels for which age details are unknown.Source: DfT calculations based on data from Lloyds List Intelligence and IHS Global

Speed Limits: Cameras

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport,  whether his Department has plans for the roll-out of speed cameras that use satellites to measure average speed over long distances.

Jesse Norman: Speed cameras on the local road network are a matter for the local traffic authority and the police. Highways England are responsible for the strategic road network in England and have no current plans for the roll-out of speed cameras that use satellites to measure average speed over long distances on their roads.

Air Space: Greater London

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timetable is for the changes proposed in the London Airspace Management Programme Phase 1A to be fully implemented.

Jesse Norman: The changes proposed in the London Airspace Management Programme Phase 1A were implemented on 4th February 2016, but are subject to final review by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which is expected to be completed later this year. The Government is working with the CAA and NATS to develop a plan for wider airspace modernisation across southern England, which is expected to be implemented by the mid-2020s.

Shipping: Medical Certificates

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many ENG1 medical fitness certificates were issued to seafarer (a) Ratings and (b) Officers by doctors approved by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency in each year from 2010-11 to 2017-18.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Maritime and Coastguard Agency publishes the annual statistics by calendar year for ENG1 seafarer medical fitness examinations on gov.uk. Information about the rank of the seafarer is not collected so it is not possible to give statistics for ratings and officers.  The total numbers of ENG1 seafarer medical fitness certificates issued in 2010 to 2017 are as follows:   YearENG1 certificates issued201046798201151116201251476201353618201453311201552179201651745201752400

Shipping: Medical Certificates

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s administration of seafarers’ medical fitness certification.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Maritime and Coastguard Agency has considered the impact of the UK leaving the EU on the administration of UK seafarers’ medical fitness certification and does not envisage any impact on the administration of the system.

Shipping: Examinations

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many seafarers have taken examinations at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s North East Exam Centre in South Tyneside College to date; and what the pass rate has been for (a) deck, (b) engine and (c) other oral exams taken at that centre.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Maritime and Coastguard Agency opened the North East Exam Centre at South Tyneside College on the 7 March 2017. From March 2017 to end of June 2018, the North East Exam Centre has undertaken: (a) 761 Deck Oral examinations, with a success pass rate of 52%(b) 834 Engineer Oral examinations, with a success pass rate of 77%(c) 6 Other (i.e. Boatmasters’ Licence) Oral examinations with a success pass rate of 100%

Maritime and Coastguard Agency

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what savings the Maritime and Coastguard Agency has made from the Survey and Inspection Transformation Programme to date.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Survey and Inspection Programme was initiated to overcome challenges the Agency was facing in meeting its obligations because of critical shortages of appropriate skilled and qualified staff. Efficiencies are being realised, through estate rationalisation and improved business and operational process but, these are all being reinvested in order to meet the Chief Secretary of the Treasury requirement for cost neutrality. The Estates Rationalising Plan, developed following public consultation and set out in the Business Case, aims to reduce the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s footprint per person and realise annual savings of some £400k. This work is not yet complete but remains on target in terms of time and cost.Once completed, the effectiveness and achievement of planned savings will be reviewed.

Shipping: Inspections

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress the Maritime and Coastguard Agency has made on inspecting (a) Priority I high risk, (b) Priority I non-high-risk and (c) Priority I international shipping calling at UK ports and anchorages in the last 12 months.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) monitors the inspection of foreign flag ships in UK and Gibraltar ports and anchorages under the Port State Control regime. The target for this is set on a calendar year basis. The number of inspections for 2017 and 2018, to date are shown below.  20172018 (to date 04/07/2018)Priority I high risk1812Priority I non-high-risk885438Priority II409317Total1312767Target14191590 The MCA is slightly behind the half year target of 795 but is confident that they will make up the deficit by the end of 2018.

Aviation: Training

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many pilots were trained in the UK in each of the last three years.

Jesse Norman: The table below shows the number of pilots who had an initial UK licence issued each year according to the Civil Aviation Authority’s records. Year Number of pilots.2015 36702016 36092017 4193 Figures for the number of pilots trained in the UK are not available. Applicants for a UK pilot’s licence are not necessarily trained in the UK, and many pilots come to the UK for training but will have a licence issued by their own national aviation authority.

Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: Sanitation

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to address the shortage of sanitary facilities available to HGV drivers throughout the UK.

Jesse Norman: The Health and Safety Executive has clarified that sanitary facilities must be made available to visiting drivers, such as those delivering at distribution centres. It intends to publish revised guidance to this effect later this year. The Department will continue to work with stakeholders and the Health and Safety Executive to ensure that the change is effectively communicated to relevant parties. In addition, the Department is working to increase the availability of formal overnight lorry parking, with adequate driver welfare facilities. Ministers have written to local planning authorities to draw attention to the shortage in certain areas and Highways England are reviewing landholdings that could be suitable for development as lorry parking.

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding his Department has allocated to road repairs as a result of damage caused by hot weather.

Jesse Norman: Funding for local roads is devolved to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Department for Transport is providing local highway authorities in England, outside London, with £6.2 billion funding between 2015 and 2021 for local highways maintenance. This includes £296 million to repair potholes or to stop them forming. It is for highway authorities to determine whether to use this funding to help repair any roads damaged due to the current hot weather.

Aviation: Northern Ireland

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make representations to the owners of Heathrow Airport on increasing the number of  flights to and from Northern Ireland on daily basis after the expansion of that airport.

Jesse Norman: Maintaining and enhancing domestic connectivity to Northern Ireland will be one of the key benefits of the expansion at Heathrow. It will ensure increased frequency and greater competition for existing domestic routes, and allow new routes to be served. The Airports National Policy Statement sets out a clear expectation that expansion should deliver at least six new routes by 2030. This could include Belfast International. The Secretary of State for Transport has also set out a clear ambition for about 15 per cent of slots to be made available from a new runway to be used for domestic routes. If new capacity, coupled with the commercial incentives offered by Heathrow, does not deliver Government’s expectations, and links are insufficient, then the Secretary of State for Transport has committed to impose Public Service Obligations to support additional domestic connections. Further detail on the Government’s approach to Public Service Obligations will be set out in the Aviation Strategy Green Paper towards the end of this year.

Southeastern

Sir David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations he has received in the last month on the service of Southeastern Railway.

Joseph Johnson: Holding answer received on 09 July 2018



The Secretary of State and Minister of State for Transport have received regular representations from the Rt Hon Member and others on the levels of service of Southeastern Railway. The performance of Southeastern has been consistent at over 85% in the last month as measured by the industry public performance measure.

Birmingham Airport: Brexit

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for Birmingham Airport of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on the viability of the aviation sector.

Chris Grayling: The Government is considering carefully all the potential implications arising from the UK’s exit from the EU, this includes the implications for airports such as Birmingham, and plans to negotiate the best possible relationship between the UK and the EU in the field of aviation. Securing liberal market access to EU markets is a very high priority for the Department for Transport. The importance of air services to the health of the UK economy is recognised across Government. The Department for Transport is working closely with the sector to best understand its requirements and to ensure that the outcome of the negotiations serves the interests of both passengers and the aviation industry.

Cycling and Walking: Coventry

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 July 2018 to Question 158945, how much of the £1.2 billion of Government funding through the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy is planned to be spent on services in (a) Coventry and (b) Coventry South constituency; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman: As part of the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, the Government has identified £1.2 billion of funding which can be harnessed by local transport authorities to support cycling and walking. It is for local authorities to decide on appropriate provisions for cycling and walking and to allocate funding or bid into appropriate funding streams. The Department for Transport does not therefore hold records of all spend by local authority area. However, Coventry City Council have reported that they received £27.9m of Local Growth Funding (LGF), of which £3.55m is being spent on Cycling and Walking. Since the Strategy’s publication, the Government has made further support available for cycling and walking infrastructure in England, through the National Productivity Investment Fund, Housing Infrastructure Fund, Transforming Cities Fund and Clean Air Fund. These funding streams are also open for bids by local authorities, including Coventry City Council.

Railways: Coventry

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the effectiveness of Network Rail's suicide prevention campaign at Coventry train stat; and if he will make a statement.

Joseph Johnson: The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

M6: Noise

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make representations to Highways England on concerns raised by Cranage Parish Council and constituents of the hon. Member for Congleton in respect of inadequate work which has now been halted on constructing acoustic fencing along the M6 smart motorway enlarged lanes boundary.

Jesse Norman: Highways England encountered unexpected ground conditions whilst in the process of installing the environmental barrier adjacent to Oak Tree Lane, Cranage which made the proposed barrier foundation inappropriate. Highways England is in the process of redesigning the installation detail and will recommence construction of the foundations once the redesign has been completed and approved. Work is expected to recommence in this area during July.

Bus Services: Blackburn

Kate Hollern: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the effect of the reduction of local bus routes and services on social inclusion for the elderly in Blackburn.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Buses play an essential role in connecting us to friends and family as well as to vital public services. Where there is not enough demand for a bus route to be commercially viable in its own right, all local authorities have powers to subsidise bus services which they consider socially necessary. I fully appreciate that local authorities are making difficult choices as a result of ongoing financial pressures. Those authorities are best placed to decide how to provide supported bus services - reflecting local needs and within available budgets. The Bus Services Act 2017 provides the tools local authorities need to improve local bus services. We are working with interested local authorities to determine which of the powers provided are best able to support bus networks in their areas.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Yemen: Armed Conflict

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with parties to the conflict in Yemen on steps to ensure that there is accountability for civilian casualties in that country.

Alistair Burt: Following the start of military action by Coalition-backed forces to take Hodeidah port back from Houthi militia, the previous Foreign Secretary made a statement on 13 June in which he called on all parties to respect International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and prioritise the protection of civilians. We regularly raise the importance of compliance with IHL with the Saudi-led Coalition at all levels. When allegations of Coalition IHL violations are made, we insist that they are investigated and that any lessons are acted upon. The Coalition Joint Incidents Assessment Team has since announced the findings of a total of 65 investigations, with the most recent being released on 6 June.

Yemen: Armed Conflict

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to promote a permanent cessation of hostilities in Hodeidah city in Yemen.

Alistair Burt: We continue to support UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, in his efforts to negotiate a political settlement and we encourage the partners to engage with his proposals. We are in regular contact with the Coalition about the need to ensure that any military operations in and around Hodeidah are conducted in accordance with international humanitarian law, including on the protection of civilians, and do not disrupt commercial and humanitarian flows through the port.

Global Britain Fund: Overseas Aid

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the terms of reference are for the Global Britain Fund; and which projects have received funding from that fund.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s departmental policy programme budget is branded internally as the Global Britain Fund. The objectives and summaries of our foreign policy programmes are published on gov.uk.​

Gulf States: Overseas Aid

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the terms of reference are for the Integrated Activity Fund; and which projects have received funding from that fund.

Alistair Burt: The Gulf Integrated Activity Fund (IAF) was introduced in the 2015 Spending Round and spending commenced in Financial Year 16/17 to enable activity when funding from core departmental, or other sources, cannot be made available to service the British Government's Gulf Strategy. It is intended to support the delivery of flexible, cross-cutting and sustained investment in the region.The IAF provides funding in support of a range of programmes across the Gulf Region. These include, but are not limited to, activities focusing on aquaculture, sport and culture, healthcare and institutional capacity building. We are not able to disclose information related to IAF programmes in greater detail as we have a duty to maintain the confidence and confidentiality of our partners. All of our work is in line with international standards and aims to share the UK's expertise and experience.

Saudi Arabia: Human Rights

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Saudi Arabian Government on the continued detention of female human rights activists in that country.

Alistair Burt: The UK is very concerned about the recent arrests and detentions of human rights activists in Saudi Arabia. The previous Foreign Secretary and I have raised our concerns with the Saudi authorities. We will continue to do so at every appropriate opportunity.

China: Multinational Companies

Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the implications are for his policies of China's (a) pressuring British Airways and other airlines to use its nomenclature for Taiwan on their websites and (b) interfering in other ways in the free operation of international business.

Mark Field: Her Majesty’s Government’s long-standing policy on Taiwan has not changed. The Government refers to Taiwan as simply “Taiwan” and, when included in a list of places, does so under an inclusive heading, such as “country/territory” or “world locations”. When guidance has been sought from HMG on the terminology to use, we have been clear about the British Government’s terminology for Taiwan.Private companies and organisations should be able to decide the terminology that they use to list destinations. UK companies should not be placed under political pressure to make changes. FCO Officials have registered our concern with the Chinese Government on this point.​

China: Multinational Companies

Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he has taken to join allies of the UK in countering China’s (a) pressuring of airlines to comply with its nomenclature for Taiwan and (b) attempting in other ways to impose its political ideology on international companies.

Mark Field: Her Majesty’s Government’s long-standing policy on Taiwan has not changed. The British Government refers to Taiwan as simply “Taiwan” and, when included in a list of places, does so under an inclusive heading, such as “country/territory” or “world locations”. When guidance has been sought from HMG on the terminology to use, we have been clear about the British Government’s terminology for Taiwan.Private companies and organisations should be able to decide the terminology that they use to list destinations. UK companies should not be placed under political pressure to make changes. FCO Officials have registered our concern with the Chinese Government on this point.​

China: Multinational Companies

Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has made representations to the Government of China on the freedom of operation of UK private enterprises and organisations.

Mark Field: We regularly make representations to China on the freedom of operation of UK private enterprises and organisations, including pressing for a level playing field. Our engagement with China aims to enhance market access, improve the business environment for all, and enhance the scope for people-to-people exchanges. Our experience is that freedom of expression and assembly, and the rule of law, are vital underpinnings for long-term prosperity and stability. We believe that, by having a strong relationship with China, we are able to have open discussions on a range of difficult issues.​

Members: Correspondence

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he plans to respond to the letter of 16 May 2018 from the hon. Member for Birmingham Northfield on arms trade licenses.

Alistair Burt: A response has been sent.

China: Multinational Companies

Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will tackle the issue of China's (a) pressuring British Airways and other airlines to use its nomenclature for Taiwan on their websites and (b) interfering in other ways in the free operations of international business.

Mark Field: Her Majesty’s Government’s long-standing policy on Taiwan has not changed. The British Government refers to Taiwan as simply “Taiwan” and, when included in a list of places, does so under an inclusive heading, such as “country/territory” or “world locations”. When guidance has been sought from HMG on the terminology to use, we have been clear about the British Government’s terminology for Taiwan.Private companies and organisations should be able to decide the terminology that they use to list destinations. UK companies should not be placed under political pressure to make changes. FCO Officials have registered our concern with the Chinese Government on this point.​

Israel: Palestinians

Hugh Gaffney: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his international counterparts on future prospects for the peace process in Israel and Palestine.

Alistair Burt: ​We frequently discuss the urgent need for a resolution to the Israeli Palestinian conflict with a range of international partners most recently on 26 June. I discussed prospects for peace with Kuwait’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Khaled Suleiman Al-Jarallah. The Government also has regular exchanges with European ministers on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the monthly EU Foreign Affairs Council meetings in Brussels.

India: Religious Freedom and Sexual Offences

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has raised the issues of sexual violence against women and the persecution of Christians in his recent discussions with his Indian counterpart; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Field: Our High Commission in India continues to address gender-based violence, particularly violence against women and girls, by working closely with Indian civil society and non-governmental organisations. They directly promote women's awareness of their rights and support survivors of sexual violence through the Indian criminal justice system. We condemn any instances of discrimination because of religion or belief, regardless of the country or faith involved. It is because these are priorities for the UK that the Prime Minister ensured the Commonwealth Heads of Government, including India Prime Minister Modi, re-emphasised in April their commitment to protect and promote democratic principles and human rights for all.

Religious Freedom

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department plans to appoint a dedicated global ambassador for religious freedom; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Field: The protection of freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) is an important element of the Government's foreign policy. On 4 July 2018, the Prime Minister was pleased to announce the appointment of Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's new Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief.

Iraq: Kurds

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the extent of Russian influence in negotiations between the Kurdistan regional government and the Iraqi Government; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: No assessment has been made on Russian influence in negotiations between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Iraqi Government.

Iraq: Elections

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government plans to offer some form of monitoring of the recount of the Iraqi elections.

Alistair Burt: National elections in Iraq on 12 May were an important moment for Iraq. The Iraqi Supreme Court's decision to order a recount following allegations of irregularities was swift. Should we receive an invitation to attend the recount, we will consider sending staff alongside international partners and security permitting. We look forward to the final results and working with a government once formed to help deliver stability, security and prosperity for all Iraqis.

Iraq: Conflict, Stability and Security Fund

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what projects his Department is supporting in Iraq through the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund.

Alistair Burt: The Conflict, Stability and Security Fund is currently supporting the following projects in Iraq:Immediate stabilisation:- Funding Facility for StabilisationResponsive governance:- Sub-national governance- Government-community dialogue through radio- Community cohesionMonitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning:- Nationwide perception polling- Third party monitoring- Research, analysis and evaluationsSecurity Sector Governance:- Advisor to National Security Architecture- Advisor to Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs- Technical Capability Building of Security Sector InstitutionsCommunity Reconciliation:- Transitional Justice AdvisorDaesh Accountability:- Support to Investigative Team Iraq; UNSCR 2379

Iraq: Kurds

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to de-escalate tensions between the Kurdistan regional government and the Iraqi Government.

Alistair Burt: We are urging the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government to resolve their differences on all immediate issues. Our Ambassador in Baghdad and Consul General in Erbil are pressing this message, as are UK ministers. For example, the then Foreign Secretary spoke to Iraqi Prime Minister Abadi on 6 February and emphasised the need for an agreement on border security. I met with both sides and pressed these messages during my visit to Iraq in April.Following national elections on 12 May, discussions are taking place between political parties and groups, including Kurdish parties, to form a government. We look forward to the formation of an effective, inclusive government that addresses the needs and hopes of all Iraqi citizens.

Russia: Diplomatic Relations

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline on European relations with Russia.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​Russia will remain a major supplier of gas to Europe, whether or not Nord Stream 2 is built. However, the pipeline is controversial as it would give Russia greater dominance over the European energy market. We take seriously concerns raised by Ukraine and others. European energy issues are regularly discussed with partners, both in multilateral fora, such as the European Council, and in other bilateral dialogues. All new infrastructure developments should comply with EU internal market and competition rules and should not negatively impact security of supply. The EU's overall relations with Russia are determined by the Five Guiding Principles, as agreed in March 2016 and reconfirmed by Foreign Ministers at April's Foreign Affairs Council.

Global Britain Fund: Overseas Aid

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the evaluation criteria are for measuring the effectiveness of projects funded by the Global Britain Fund.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s (FCO) departmental policy programme budget is branded internally as the Global Britain Fund. Projects under this banner provide short-term support for small-scale tactical interventions to enable wider foreign policy objectives. Progress against FCO country or thematic strategies is evaluated at the mid and end of year points through the FCO’s internal business planning process. Performance of individual projects against their original objectives is reviewed annually and at a mid-year point. Additional information on the objectives of our foreign policy programmes is published on gov.uk. ​

Turkey: Elections

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in the Council of Europe on the results of the recent Turkish elections.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​We have regular discussions with our Council of Europe colleagues on a variety of subjects, including the current situation in Turkey. We will continue to work with the Council, including Turkey, to strengthen relations between Council members.

Turkey: Elections

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for human rights and the rule of law in Turkey of the re-election of President Erdogan.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​Following the re-election of President Erdogan on 24 June, we continue to expect Turkey to ensure full adherence to its international human rights obligations and to the maintenance of the rule of law. We will continue to work in close partnership with Turkey, and to raise these important issues in our bilateral discussions.

Asia: Ivory

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to urge (a) Thailand, (b) Vietnam, (c) Japan, (d) Laos, (e) Myanmar and (f) other countries in Asia to ban the trade in ivory.

Mark Field: The former Foreign Secretary set out his ambition to make 2018 the year of UK leadership in defeating the illegal ivory trade. On 2 July the then Foreign Secretary announced that the Government would launch the Ivory Alliance 2024, which will work with partners globally to increase the number of countries committed to domestic ivory bans and for tougher enforcement against those caught breaking the law.Illegal wildlife trade (IWT) is a high priority for the Ministerial team, with an ongoing campaign that has included personal engagement with Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, Laos and Myanmar. The former Foreign Secretary raised ivory with Thai Foreign Minister Don in June. He visited Thailand in February where he discussed IWT with Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. He raised ivory with the Foreign Minister of Japan in May and also in 2017. I have raised IWT on my own visits to Asia this year, including with counterparts in Thailand and Vietnam.FCO officials continue to work closely with host governments across Asia on IWT.

North Korea: Wildlife

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to prevent the illicit wildlife trade in rhino horn from enabling North Korea to circumvent UN sanctions.

Mark Field: The UK continues to work to ensure the enforcement of all UN sanctions against North Korea and to close illegal revenue streams such as those from the illicit trade in rhino horn. We raised this issue bilaterally with North Korea and actively lobbied Governments in Africa and South East Asia to be extra vigilant. The UK will host a high level conference in October which will highlight the links between the illegal wildlife trade and wider security challenges.​

Bahrain: Torture

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he has taken to urge the Bahraini regime to allow the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture immediate, unrestricted and continued access to the country.

Alistair Burt: As part of our continuing open dialogue, we encourage Bahrain, and more than 100 other countries, to ratify the Optional Convention Against Torture, and to improve their relationship with the various bodies of the UN system.

Turkmenistan: Driving

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has made representations to his counterpart in Turkmenistan on the ban on female drivers in that country; and if he will make a statement.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​The law in Turkmenistan does not prohibit women from driving. There have however been reports that women drivers are harassed, and allegations that it is difficult for women to obtain driving licences. Although it is difficult to verify these reports, our Embassy raised the issue with the Turkmen authorities in early July as part of a continuing dialogue on human rights. More widely, gender equality is a central theme of our work in Turkmenistan. The UK supports projects in Turkmenistan promoting the rights and empowerment of women, particularly in rural areas. We raise the rights of women in Turkmenistan through the EU also, including most recently at the EU-Turkmenistan Human Rights Dialogue in Brussels on 21 June.

Antarctic: Marine Protected Areas

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to (a) Russia, (b) China, (c) Norway and (d) South Korea on establishing a Marine Protected Area in the Weddell Sea.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​The Weddell Sea Marine Protected Area proposal is currently being finalised by those European Union Member States who are also Members of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). International consultations are underway at official and technical levels with CCAMLR Members including those from Russia, China, Norway and the Republic of Korea. The final proposal will be submitted to CCAMLR in September, when we will work with other EU Members to consider the most appropriate level of lobbying to secure agreement for the proposal.

Mauritania: Religious Freedom

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterpart in the Mauritanian Government on respect for freedom of religion.

Alistair Burt: UK officials have raised issues of Freedom of Religion or Belief with senior Mauritanian officials on several occasions, most recently on 20th of June. Following the opening of our Embassy in Nouakchott in May, I plan to visit Mauritania later this year for discussions on a range of subjects of importance to the UK​.

Yemen: UN Security Council

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government has taken to fulfil its role as a penholder on Yemen in the UN Security Council.

Alistair Burt: The UK continues to fulfil its role as penholder on Yemen in the UN Security Council by coordinating sessions with the Security Council President that respond to developments in Yemen and the will of the Council as a whole. The UK proposed and coordinated a Presidential Statement which was agreed on 15 March 2018. That Presidential Statement, builds upon the previous Presidential Statement agreed on 15 June 2017, which was also sponsored and coordinated by the UK, :expressing deep concern about the humanitarian situation in Yemen; calling for the parties to agree steps towards a ceasefire; welcoming the new UN Special Envoy, and calling for a vaccination programme and unhindered humanitarian access. We will continue to work with our Yemeni, regional and international partners to ensure words are converted into action.

Yemen: Military Intervention

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government has made clear representations to all coalition members that it would review its support if an attack on Hodeida proceeds.

Alistair Burt: We are in regular contact with the Coalition about the need to ensure that any military operations in and around Hodeidah are conducted in accordance with international humanitarian law, including in relation to the protection of civilians, and do not disrupt commercial and humanitarian flows through the port.

Saudi Arabia: Females

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Saudi counterpart on the recent arrest of women's rights advocates in that country.

Alistair Burt: The UK is very concerned about the recent arrests and detentions of the human rights activists in Saudi Arabia. The former Foreign Secretary and I have raised our concerns with the Saudi authorities. We will continue to do so at every appropriate opportunity.

Iraq: Human Rights and Religious Freedom

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affiars, what recent discussions he has had with his Iraqi counterpart on freedom of religion and human rights for (a) Jewish people and (b) other ethnic groups in that country.

Alistair Burt: ​The UK is firmly committed to protecting religious and ethnic minority communities in Iraq. We consistently urge the Government of Iraq, at all levels, to uphold fundamental human rights including the right to freedom of religion or belief and the rights of all minorities across Iraq. The Prime Minister underlined this message with Prime Minister Abadi during her visit to Iraq in November 2017, and both the Minister of State for the Commonwealth and the UN and I reiterated it during our visits in March and April 2018 respectively. Our Embassy in Baghdad and Consulate-General in Erbil continue to raise the issue with Iraqi and Kurdish officials. We will encourage the new Iraqi Government to support the needs of all of their communities.

USA: State Visits

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which locations President Trump will be visiting as part of his state visit.

Sir Alan Duncan: Holding answer received on 09 July 2018



The President will visit Blenheim Palace, Winfield House, a Defence site, Chequers, Windsor Castle and Scotland as part of his working visit.

USA: State Visits

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which (a) Ministers and (b) Parliamentarians are planned to have meetings with President Trump during the forthcoming visit to the UK.

Sir Alan Duncan: Holding answer received on 09 July 2018



The main purpose of the working visit is for the President to hold official talks with the Prime Minister. A number of Cabinet Ministers will also be involved in programme elements. Details will be released in due course.

USA: State Visits

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will ask the US Government to cover the cost to Thames Valley Police of policing any visit to Oxfordshire by the US President during his upcoming visit to the UK.

Sir Alan Duncan: Holding answer received on 09 July 2018



This is a Guest of Government visit and as with all visits of this nature, associated costs will be published on the gov.uk website. We will of course work with the police to support the policing operation around President Trump's visit. We will consider any request for special grant funding we receive in line with our normal processes.

Ahmed Mansoor

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 13 April 2018 to Question 135562 on Ahmed Mansoor, in what forum was the issue raised; how his Department plans to monitor proceedings; and what opportunities are available to him to intervene in the event that Mr Mansoor's right to a fair trial are violated.

Alistair Burt: The case was raised by my officials with senior Emirati officials in the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. We continue to monitor Mr Mansoor's case closely. The UK urges all countries to comply with their human rights obligations. When we have concerns in this regard, we raise those concerns at senior level levels with foreign governments.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Serco

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many current contracts his Department has with Serco; and what the (a) value, (b) start date and (c) end date of each of those contracts is.

Sir Alan Duncan: The FCO has three current contracts with Serco Limited. Details of the contracts are in the table below.ContractValueStart dateEnd date1£44,8071 July 201829 July 20182£19,09010 May 201813 August 20183No fixed value as it is based on the number/duration of calls. During FY 2018/19, the spend has been approx. £11,000 per month1 March 201828 February 2021

Nigeria: Crimes of Violence

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to help prevent escalating violence against predominantly Christian farming communities in Nigeria.

Harriett Baldwin: We have raised the issue of farmer herder violence regularly with state and federal government, including with Abba Kyari, President Buhari's Chief of Staff. The High Commission has raised it with the governors of a number of affected states (Benue, Plateau, Kaduna, Kano). The High Commissioner raised the broad issue of insecurity and the need for an end to violence during a call on the Vice President at the end of June.Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials have also raised the issue of Freedom of Religion and tensions between religious communities, specifically with state officials in Borno and Yobe during a visit there in May.

Balkans: Conferences

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs,  what the Government's preferred outcomes are for the Western Balkans Summit on 10 July.

Sir Alan Duncan: This week's Western Balkans Summit will be a demonstration of the Government's longstanding commitment to the region and to European security. The Summit will focus on three areas:First, regional security, where we hope to increase cooperation against common threats, including corruption and organised crime.Second, economic stability, to improve the business environment, entrepreneurship, and digital skills.Third, political cooperation, to help the region overcome legacy issues stemming from the conflicts of the 1990s.

Department for International Development

Pakistan: Education

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what information her Department holds on the prevalence of (a) religious bias in education policy and (b) religious hate material in textbooks in Sindh and Punjab states in Pakistan; and if she will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: DFID does not hold information on the prevalence of religious bias in education policy. However, respect for human rights, including the provisions of non-discrimination and protection for freedom of religion is one of the four Partnership Principles that guide the DFID Pakistan programme, and which are also set out in Pakistan’s constitution. A Partnership Principles Assessment provides the basis for regular bilateral assistance talks between the UK and Pakistan and is regularly reviewed. While DFID has not carried out a general review of textbooks in Sindh, we have reviewed textbooks used in DFID supported non-government primary schools in Sindh. DFID has carried out an internal review of textbooks used in the public sector in Punjab and KP.

Developing Countries: Religious Freedom

Mr George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will offer her Department's expertise to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to help it enhance its country-specific strategies to promote the right to freedom of religion or belief.

Alistair Burt: Defending the right to freedom of religion or belief remains a top priority for this Government. Ministers and officials from DFID and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office regularly discuss strategies and approaches to supporting this universal human right.

Overseas Aid

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, following the publication of the 2018 Aid Transparency Index, what steps her Department is taking to meet its goal of helping all departments to achieve a good or very good rating in that index by 2020.

Harriett Baldwin: DFID has helped develop guidance on publishing to the International Aid Transparency Initiative open data standard (IATI), and continues to provide advice and tailored training to other government departments. The Department hosted transparency workshops in 2016, 2017, and again in July 2018. Transparency is regularly discussed at the cross-Whitehall Official Development Assistance (ODA) Ministerial meetings, which the Secretary of State co-Chairs. Transparency is also discussed at the regular cross-Government Senior Officials Group on ODA and also covered at operational level at cross-Government ODA Learning Days.

Burma: Ethnic Groups

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what arrangements have been made for the provision of aid to the Karen people in Myanmar in response to recent violence in that country.

Alistair Burt: Through a range of funding instruments, international and local partners, DFID has provided humanitarian emergency support, livelihood activities as well as longer term health improvement programmes. This includes:Nearly 100,000 people tested for Malaria and treated 2,400 confirmed cases;7,682 suspected Tuberculosis cases in 2017, 515 were confirmed and received treatment;USD 4.38 million of loans were disbursed in 2017; and9,500 refugees in Thailand are receiving humanitarian assistance.

Burma: Ethnic Groups

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department is working with the Karen National Union and the Karen Women's Organisation in the distribution of aid to the Karen people in Myanmar.

Alistair Burt: DFID is working with the Karen National Union and the Karen Women's Organisation across a broad range of activities which include distribution of humanitarian aid, nutrition support, health and capacity building.

Disaster Relief

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, on how many occasions and to which countries the UK Emergency Medical Team has been deployed in the last five years.

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, for what the reasons the UK Emergency Medical Team was not deployed to Gaza following the deaths and gunshot injuries to civilian demonstrators in April and May 2018.

Alistair Burt: The UK Emergency Medical Team recently deployed to Bangladesh following the diphtheria outbreak in December 2017. DFID also has the option to deploy Team personnel only to work in existing national health facilities and did so to Nepal in 2015, Gaza in 2014 and the Philippines in 2013.Taking into account lessons learned from previous deployments, including safety concerns for deploying UK nationals and problems with access and permits, the current Emergency Medical Team is not designed to be deployed into active conflict zones. The UK government has provided £1.5 million to the ICRC to help treat patients in 11 hospitals in Gaza by restocking vital medical supplies and providing physical rehabilitative services.

Malawi: Overseas Aid

Hugh Gaffney: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department has spent on aid projects in Malawi in each year for which information is available.

Harriett Baldwin: Information on UK aid spending by country is available in the annual Statistics on International Development publication (available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-on-international-development).The table below shows published figures on DFID’s bilateral official development assistance (ODA) spend in Malawi from 2009-2016.DFID bilateral ODA to Malawi, £ million:YearDFID Bilateral ODA to Malawi20096820109020116120121172013106201451201575201694Source: Statistics on International Development Further information on DFID’s results achieved, spending, performance and efficiency can be found in its Annual Reports (available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dfid-annual-report-2011-2012).

Overseas Aid

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on Treasury on the UK’s 0.7 per cent commitment on international aid spending.

Alistair Burt: DFID has had no recent discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer or Treasury on the UK’s commitment to spend 0.7% of its gross national income on official development assistance. The commitment was enshrined in law in 2015. The Government has been unequivocal that it will continue to honour this commitment, which serves both our national and international interests.

Department for Education

Academies

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which academy chains are banned from sponsoring any more schools.

Nadhim Zahawi: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 24 May 2018.The correct answer should have been:

An academy sponsor is an organisation or person who has received approval from the department to support an underperforming academy or group of academies. A range of bodies and institutions, including multi-academy trusts, can apply to become academy sponsors. An academy sponsor is paused if any or all of the following conditions exist:significant concerns with educational impact;serious financial concerns, for example where the Education and Skills Funding Agency has issued a financial notice to improve due to financial non-compliance, breaches of funding agreements; and/orserious concerns about the leadership or governance of the sponsor, which may include due diligence and counter extremism issues. Academy sponsors remain on pause unless and until the concerns that led to them being paused have been resolved. Just because a sponsor is not on pause does not mean it is automatically allowed to take on more schools. A rigorous process is followed for all sponsorship decisions.The following list shows all academy sponsors that are paused as of 22 May 2018:Bright Futures Educational Trust;Grace Foundation;CfBT Schools Trust;City of Wolverhampton Academy Trust;Future Schools Trust;The Education Fellowship Trust;University of Chester Academies Trust;Wakefield City Academies Trust;The Silver Birch Academy;Plymouth CAST;TBAP Trust;Zail Enterprises Ltd;Bradfield School; andChrysalis Multi-Academy Trust.

Nadhim Zahawi: An academy sponsor is an organisation or person who has received approval from the department to support an underperforming academy or group of academies. A range of bodies and institutions, including multi-academy trusts, can apply to become academy sponsors. An academy sponsor is paused if any or all of the following conditions exist:significant concerns with educational impact;serious financial concerns, for example where the Education and Skills Funding Agency has issued a financial notice to improve due to financial non-compliance, breaches of funding agreements; and/orserious concerns about the leadership or governance of the sponsor, which may include due diligence and counter extremism issues. Academy sponsors remain on pause unless and until the concerns that led to them being paused have been resolved. Just because a sponsor is not on pause does not mean it is automatically allowed to take on more schools. A rigorous process is followed for all sponsorship decisions.The following list shows all academy sponsors that are paused as of 22 May 2018:Bright Futures Educational Trust;Grace Foundation;CfBT Schools Trust;City of Wolverhampton Academy Trust;Future Schools Trust;The Education Fellowship Trust;University of Chester Academies Trust;Wakefield City Academies Trust;The Silver Birch Academy;Plymouth CAST;TBAP Trust;Zail Enterprises Ltd;Bradfield School; andChrysalis Multi-Academy Trust.

Grammar Schools: Transport

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Chancellor's announcement in the 2017 Budget , what the timetable is for the extension of free school transport for children in receipt of free school meals to those travelling to selective schools.

Nick Gibb: The Department is committed to ensuring every child is able to access a good school place, regardless of background. The new Selective Schools Expansion Fund will create more good school places where there is local demand by supporting the expansion of existing good or outstanding selective schools. Those schools that are successful in their application will be expected to undertake activity to encourage more pupils from low-income families to attend and be committed to improving access for disadvantaged pupils.Children will be eligible for free transport to a selective school if they meet the existing eligibility criteria.The Department expects more children to become eligible for free home to school transport as a result of new rules on eligibility for free school meals, and will be providing local authorities with additional funding to help them provide this.The Department is not, however, taking forward proposals to open new selective schools and, not taking forward plans for free transport specifically for children who are eligible for free school meals who attend their nearest selective school.Where disadvantaged pupils are not eligible for free transport, schools may wish to consider whether it is appropriate to use pupil premium funding to support transport costs for these pupils.

Children: Disadvantaged

Hugh Gaffney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps is he taking to support children in need.

Nadhim Zahawi: The government continues to implement its reform programme as set out in ‘Putting Children First’ (2016), towards our aim that all children, no matter where they live, should have access to the same high quality care and support to meet their needs. This includes stronger initial training and clarity about the knowledge and skills social workers need in their jobs and creating an environment where innovation can flourish and frontline practice is driven by evidence. The government is also taking decisive action to improve services in inadequate local authorities through our interventions programme and by implementing a new Improvement Strategy for local authorities at risk of failing.The government recently launched a review of Children in Need, publishing extensive data on the outcomes of this cohort and launching a call for evidence, which closed on 1 July 2018. Through the Children in Need review we are continuing to build our evidence base – both on the educational outcomes of Children in Need, and on what works to improve these outcomes. To do this, we are engaging with professionals and organisations who support Children in Need and with three What Works Centres – the Education Endowment Foundation, Early Intervention Foundation, and the What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care.

Religion: Education

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the number of suitably qualified people recruited to teach religious education.

Nick Gibb: There are 14,700 religious education (RE) teachers in state-funded secondary schools in England, and the proportion of hours spent teaching RE has remained broadly stable since 2010. The percentage of RE teachers with a specialist post A level qualification in RE is 46.4% - an increase from 45.1% from 2016. To support recruitment of RE trainee teachers for 2018/19 the Department is continuing to offer a generous bursary of up to £9,000 and has removed restrictions on teacher training places to allow good courses to expand. The Department is also, for the first time, providing support to RE applicants from our specialist recruitment advisors.

Teachers: Recruitment

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on the effect of bursaries for teacher training in shortage subjects on attracting (a) new recruits into teaching; (b) those planning to teach other subjects into shortage subjects.

Nick Gibb: Bursaries are designed to incentivise applications in subjects where it is most difficult to recruit trainee teachers. We have targeted bursaries in recent years at EBacc subjects, which are most commonly required for entry by leading universities.Departmental analysis of recruitment performance shows a statistical correlation between bursaries and the number of teacher training applications. The National Audit Office’s 2016 ‘Training New Teachers’ report noted our analysis, which found that increasing bursaries by £1,000 led to a 2.9% increase in applications.The Department is currently undertaking detailed analysis of linked teacher training and school workforce data to explore the proportion of bursary holders awarded qualified teacher status and the progression of bursary holders into the state funded workforce in England.The Department is also piloting a phased bursary for mathematics trainee teachers starting initial teacher training in the 2018/19 academic year, which comprises a lower bursary upfront followed by two additional early-career payments once in teaching. The pilot will test whether this approach secures a greater supply of teachers than the upfront bursary.

Disabled Students’ Allowances

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department plans to review the requirement of a £200 contribution by students before equipment is provided under the disabled students’ allowance; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The department has no plans to review the requirement for the £200 contribution to the cost of computer equipment. Computers are a mainstream cost for all students and it is therefore right that students eligible for the disabled students’ allowance (DSA) should contribute towards the cost of their DSAs-recommended computer equipment.

Education and Skills Funding Agency: Staff

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 27 June 2018 to Question 155300 Education and Skills Funding Agency, of the 566 staff to employ the schools system how many are in each civil service salary pay band.

Anne Milton: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Regional Schools Commissioners and Schools Commissioner: Staff

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 4 June 2018 to Question 147898 on Regional Schools Commissioners and Schools Commissioner, what the civil service salary band is of the people employed in the (a) Office of the National Schools Commissioner (a) each office of the Regional Schools Commissioners.

Anne Milton: Both the Office of the National Schools Commissioner and each office of the Regional Schools Commissioners (RSC) are made up of staff from the grades Executive Assistant (AO) to RSC (Senior Civil Servant). The civil service pay bands are shown in the attached tables.



civil_service_pay_bands
(Word Document, 47 KB)

Regional Schools Commissioners

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of schools re-brokered by a Regional Schools Commissioner have been re-brokered to a member of a Regional Schools Commissioner head teacher board.

Nadhim Zahawi: From October 2014 when headteacher boards (HTB) came in, until the end of the financial year 2016/17, 17% of academies that moved trust, moved to a trust linked to an HTB member.[1] This figure also includes voluntary transfers, for example, where a standalone academy voluntarily joined an existing multi-academy trust.It should be noted that HTB members must remove themselves from discussions of, and must not provide advice on, cases where they have a conflict of interest. The department’s published terms of reference for headteacher boards sets out a clear process for such cases.[2]  [1] This only includes HTB members elected or appointed in 2014, as the current cohort were elected or appointed in September 2017, after the cut off point of the data used, March 2017.[2] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/624689/HTB_Terms_of_Reference.pdf.

Ofsted: Staff

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 19 June 2018 to Question 153837 on Ofsted, what the civil service pay grade is each of the staff employed by Ofsted to regulate the schools system.

Anne Milton: This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Academies: Finance

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 15 June 2018 to Question 152777 on Academies: Finance, which contentious connected party transactions were referred to the Education and Skills Funding Agency relating to (a) Collective Spirit Multi Academy Trust, (b) Wakefield City Academies Trust and (c) Bright Tribe multi-academy trust; and what action was taken as a result of each referral.

Nadhim Zahawi: In adhering with accounting standards, academy trusts are required to disclose all related party transactions in their accounts, this being an illustration of the high levels of transparency that we require of academy trusts. There is no equivalent requirement for local authority schools to disclose such transactions, as they are not required to prepare or publish individual accounts. The referrals for both Bright Tribe and Collective Spirit Multi Academy Trust are currently being assessed. The referral for Wakefield City Academies Trust has been considered and the trust has disclosed the transactions in their published accounts, available on the Companies House website.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Avian Influenza

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many birds died as a result of avian flu in each of the last five years.

George Eustice: The Animal and Plant Health Agency holds the following records on the birds that have died as a result of avian influenza or were culled as part of disease control operations, or for wild birds from the Agency’s surveillance of wild bird reserves  YearNumber of kept bird deaths (primarily commercial) as a result of avian influenza201415,9822015155,781201642,2282017177,2792018N/A  YearNumber of wild bird deaths as a result of highly pathogenic avian influenza2014020150201672017452018101

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Serco

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many current contracts his Department has with Serco; and what the (a) value, (b) start date and (c) end date of each of those contracts is.

George Eustice: Defra does not have any active contracts with Serco.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Falkland Islands: European Union

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether the Government has assessed the potential merits of permitting another EU member state to act as sponsor for the Falkland Islands remaining in the EU under article 355(3) of the Lisbon Treaty; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Robin Walker: The UK Government is responsible for the external relations of the Falkland Islands and it has been the long-standing policy of the Government not to alter the arrangements for the sovereignty of its Overseas Territories without the consent of their peoples.As for the FalkIand Islands’ relationship with the EU, the Prime Minister has been clear that we are negotiating for an ambitious future relationship on behalf of the whole UK family and we want a deal which works for all the Overseas Territories. That deal must work for the Falklands too.

Attorney General

Home Education: Prosecutions

Frank Field: To ask the Attorney General, whether his Department has any figures on the number of cases taken against parents who have (a) abused, (b) radicalised and (c) trafficked their children who were in home education at that time.

Robert Buckland: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not maintain a central record of the number of defendants prosecuted for offences where they have (a) abused, (b) radicalised and (c) trafficked their children who were in home education at that time prosecuted. This information could only be obtained by manually searching CPS case files, which would incur disproportionate cost.

Wales Office

Severn River Crossing

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, if he will publish the list of invitees to the Second Severn Crossing renaming ceremony.

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what costs to the public purse have been incurred as a result of renaming the Second Severn Crossing.

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what costs to the public purse were incurred as a result of the renaming ceremony for the Second Severn Crossing.

Alun Cairns: Holding answer received on 05 July 2018



A list of invited guests to the reception to mark the renaming of the Second Severn Crossing can be seen in the enclosed table. In addition to this, Media representatives were invited by Clarence House via the Royal rota and attended the reception. The costs that have been incurred to date as a result of renaming the Second Severn Crossing are detailed below. These costs reflect standard street furniture costs. All costs will be met by Highways England. These are one-off costs and no significant ongoing maintenance costs are anticipated. Order ValueDescription1,280.00SSC Lane Closures East & West 20-Mar-18 -Instruction 04: Survey Drainage Located at Avon & Gwent Abutments125.00Produce Etching Artwork for Bridge Naming Plates290.842156mm X 575mm Composite Aluminium Sign - Prince of Wales Bridge - On Site but not used562.852707mm X 875mm Composite Aluminium Sign Bi-Lingual - On Site but not used171.625100mm X 89mm X 3.2mm Galvanised Steel Sign Post C/W Cap - On Site but not used194.504500mm X 89mm X 3.2mm Galvanised Steel Sign Post C/W Cap - On Site but not used22.6889mm Stainless Steel Fixing Clips - On Site but not used60.00Carriage - On Site but not used39.48Cladfix 5.5 C 38 3PT 16BW2,628.43Plaque Measuring 1219mm X 610mm X 20mm English Version2,628.43Plaque Measuring 1219mm X 610mm X 20mm English/Welsh Version80.00Carriage4,536.00VMS Sign Hire - 28 Days150.00Delivery to Second Severn Crossing Unit150.00Collection from Second Severn Crossing Unit180.55All Seasons Gazebo167.341200mm Wide X 5mm Sign - Welsh Dragon & Black Border: English167.341200mm Wide X 5mm Sign - Welsh Dragon & Black Border: Welsh24.00Carriage675.00Barrier Sleeves2,560.00SSC Lane Closures East 04-08-Jun-18 - Instruction 161,920.00SSC Lane Closures West 06-08-Jun-18 - Instruction 17395.00Provide IPV & Driver - Install VMS Signs - Instruction 21167.341200mm Wide X 5mm Sign - Welsh Dragon & Black Border: English (inc. Grass)167.341200mm Wide X 5mm Sign - Welsh Dragon & Black Border: Welsh (inc. Grass)42.00Carriage100.00Lifting Beam Hire5,539.08Construction Manager850.00Hire of Rigid HIAB 26th June4,800.00Install Sign Bases The cost of the reception to mark the renaming of the Second Severn Crossing was £6,767. This event was an opportunity to highlight the important economic benefits that the withdrawal of the tolls will bring, emphasizing the opportunities for cross border working and greater cooperation between South Wales and South West England.  



Table - PQs 159571, 159572 & 159573
(Word Document, 25.59 KB)

Ministry of Justice

Prisoners: Pakistan

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what agreements are in place with the Government of Pakistan on the transfer of prisoners; and what effect those agreements have had on the number of prisoners exchanged with that country.

Rory Stewart: Any foreign national who comes to our country and abuses our hospitality by breaking the law should be in no doubt of our determination to deport them. More than 42,000 Foreign National Offenders have been removed from the UK since 2010, with over 5,600 removed in 2017/18. A Prisoner Transfer Agreement is in place to allow Pakistani nationals to be transferred from the UK during their prison sentence so that they continue to serve their sentence in Pakistan (and vice versa for British nationals imprisoned in Pakistan), but it is currently suspended due to the corrupt release of prisoners transferred to Pakistan in 2010. Between the commencement of the Prisoner Transfer Agreement in 2008 and its suspension in 2010, a total of four prisoners were transferred to Pakistan, three of whom were corruptly released. The Government of Pakistan has since taken action to return the corruptly released prisoners to custody and has prosecuted those involved. Work is underway with the Government of Pakistan to resolve the issues presented by the corrupt releases and restart transfers with appropriate safeguards in place. In the meantime, Pakistani nationals continue to be deported from the UK following completion of their prison sentences.

Sentencing: Females

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many women sentenced to prison in 2017 for public order offences received sentences of (a) 0 to 1 months, (b) 0 to 3 months, (c) 0 to 6 months, (d) 0 to 12 months, and (e) 12 months or more.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many women sentenced to prison in 2017 for miscellaneous crimes against society received sentences of (a) 0 to 1 months, (b) 0 to 3 months, (c) 0 to 6 months, (d) 0 to 12 months, and (e) 12 months or more.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many women sentenced to prison in 2017 for fraud offences received sentences of (a) 0 to 1 months, (b) 0 to 3 months, (c) 0 to 6 months, (d) 0 to 12 months, and (e) 12 months or more.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many women sentenced to prison in 2017 for summary non-motoring received sentences of (a) 0 to 1 months, (b) 0 to 3 months, (c) 0 to 6 months, (d) 0 to 12 months, and (e) 12 months or more.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, How many women sentenced to prison in 2017 for summary motoring offences received sentences of (a) 0 to 1 months, (b) 0 to 3 months, (c) 0 to 6 months, (d) 0 to 12 months, and (e) 12 months or more.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, How many of the women sentenced to prison in 2017 for and offence not recorded received sentences of (a) 0 to 1 months, (b) 0 to 3 months, (c) 0 to 6 months, (d) 0 to 12 months, and (e) 12 months or more.

Lucy Frazer: The number of women sentenced to custody for public order, miscellaneous crimes against society, fraud, summary motoring offences and with offence not recorded who received a custodial sentence of 0-1 months, 0-3 months, 0-6 months, 0-12 months and 12 months or more, in 2017 can be found in Table 1 below. Table 1: Number of women in prison in 2017 by selected offence type and sentence length.Offence type/ sentence length0-1 month0-3 months0-6 months0-12 months12 months +Public order offences848416833610Miscellaneous crimes against society108108216432152Fraud Offences17173468163Summary non-motoring27827855611121Summary motoring141428560 Note: There were no women sentenced to prison in 2017 whose offence was not recorded. On 27 June we published our strategy for female offenders, which sets out the Government’s commitment to a new programme of work for female offenders. This is driven by our vision, which includes wanting to see fewer women in custody, especially on short-term sentences, and a greater proportion of women managed in the community successfully. We have committed to an investment of £5m in community solutions which will support the develop of whole system approaches to produce better outcomes for women either in or at risk of entering the criminal justice system.

Pentonville Prison

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many young adults in HMYOI Pentonville have accumulated in total (a) 1-24, (b) 25-49, (c) 50-74, (d) 75-99, (e) 100-149 and (f) 150 or more additional days of imprisonment imposed as punishment.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many young adults in HMYOI Oakwood have accumulated in total (a) 1-24 (b) 25-49 (c) 50-74 (d) 75-99 (e) 100-149 (f) 150 or more additional days of imprisonment imposed as punishment.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many young adults in HMYOI Highpoint have accumulated in total (a) 1-24, (b) 25-49, (c) 50-74, (d) 75-99, (e) 100-149, (f) 150 or more additional days of imprisonment imposed as punishment.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many young adults in HMYOI Wandsworth have accumulated in total (a) 1-24, (b) 25-49, (c) 50-74, (d) 75-99, (e) 100-149 and (f) 150 or more additional days of imprisonment imposed as punishment.

Rory Stewart: Discipline procedures are central to the maintenance of a safe, decent and rehabilitative custodial environment. They require adjudications to be conducted lawfully, fairly and justly. Only Independent Adjudicators, who are District Judges or Deputy District Judges, can, in cases deemed to be sufficiently serious, make an award of additional days. All prisoners have a full opportunity to hear what is alleged against them and to present their case. Young or vulnerable prisoners, who may lack experience of adjudications, are encouraged to request help from an advocate. The most serious offences are referred to the police. The tables attached provide statistics on the number of young adult prisoners awarded additional days following proven adjudications between 2013 and 2017 for HMP Pentonville and HMP Wandsworth, by age group. There were no young adults who received an award of additional days as an adjudication punishment at HMP Oakwood or HMP Highpoint between 2013 and 2017.



Tables
(Excel SpreadSheet, 10.31 KB)

Internet: Bullying

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the provision of appropriate support for victims of internet trolling who have experienced psychological harm.

Edward Argar: Where someone has been the victim of a crime, including online crime, this government is committed to ensuring they have access to a broad range of support services to help them cope with and, as far as possible, recover from its effects. This year, we have allocated £68m in grant funding to Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to locally commission or provide support services for victims of crime in England and Wales. In addition, my officials are working closely with their counterparts in the Department for Health and Social Care and with PCCs to ensure that victims of crime who have suffered psychological harm receive effective and joined up support.

Wetherby Young Offender Institution: Education

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the provision of education in HMYOI Wetherby.

Edward Argar: Ofsted are statutorily responsible for assessing the effectiveness of education provision in prisons, and their latest assessment of HMYOI Wetherby can be found at https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2017/09/Wetherby-Keppel-Web-2017.pdf. Ofsted assessed that the overall effectiveness of learning, skills, and work as required improvement. Whilst education at HMYOI Wetherby is currently being delivered to contractual requirements, we continue to closely monitor providers. We are committed to improving the education offer and tailoring it to the individual needs of young people. This will include ensuring that there is sufficient time in the day for access to vocational activities, sports, and health and behavioural interventions as well as academic education. We are working with education providers to improve the flexibility of the 30-hour learning week, to drive delivery of a wide range of activities alongside traditional classroom based learning.

Guardianship (Missing Persons) Act 2017

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the timetable is for the provisions of the Guardianship (Missing Persons) Act 2017  to come into force.

Edward Argar: The Guardianship (Missing Persons) Act received Royal Assent in April 2017. The Government remains committed to bringing the Act into force as soon as possible. This depends upon the creation of the necessary secondary legislation and administrative systems in the courts. It also will require the Office of the Public Guardian to define and support the working of the new procedure, with officials drafting the necessary documentation. The Government is not currently able to confirm a date for commencement, but intends to set out its approach to commencement by the Summer Recess.

Feltham Young Offender Institution: Education

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 4 July 2018 to Question 159027 on Feltham Young Offender Institution, whether his Department has a mechanism by which to determine whether the legal minimum education requirement is being provided to children in the segregation unit at HMYOI Feltham.

Edward Argar: Monitoring of education provision in Young Offenders Institutions (YOI) is undertaken via regular contract and performance review meetings between the provider, establishment and senior civil servants within the Youth Custody Service. The governance of young people held within care and separation units is set out under YOI rule 49 and managed via Prison Service Orders (PSO 1700 - https://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/offenders/psipso/psi-17-2006.doc). Good education in and out of the classroom is the key to unlocking a secure and stable future for young people. I am determined to drive forward our reforms so that young people are equipped with the skills to live successful, crime-free lives.

Courts: Closures

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) Crown , (b) County and (c) Magistrates' Courts his Department has closed since 2010.

Lucy Frazer: The number of Crown, County and Magistrates’ Courts closed since 2010 is provided in the table. CategoryNumberCrown Courts4County Courts71Magistrates’ Courts141Crown and Magistrates’ Courts (Combined)3Magistrates’ and County Courts (Combined)13

Courts: Buildings

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what quantum of savings his Department has accrued to the public purse as a result of the sale of court buildings.

Lucy Frazer: Since the commencement of the Reform Programme in financial year 2015/16, HM Courts & Tribunals Service has saved £37.5 million as a result of consolidating the court and tribunal estate. A further £121 million has been raised through the sale of surplus court and tribunal buildings. These savings are being reinvested in our programme of reform and modernisation.

Magistrates' Courts: Wrexham

Ian C. Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what funding he has allocated for the construction of custody provision at Wrexham Magistrates Court; on what the timetable is for the start of that construction.

Lucy Frazer: Funding approval has been given to the cost of a new custody suite reported to officials in September 2017 at a total project cost of £3.5m. The cost, in part due to increased planning constraints, has continued to increase. Officials are currently working with professional advisers to understand the costs and timeframes associated with the design to deliver the programme. A revised funding requirement will be subject to internal governance consideration, once a deliverable costed scheme is finalised.

Courts: North Wales

Ian C. Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offences have been prosecuted in (a) magistrates courts and (b) Crown Courts in North Wales for the last five  years for which information is available.

Lucy Frazer: The number of defendants prosecuted in the last five years in North Wales at (a) magistrates’ courts was 89,363 and (b) in the Crown Court was 5,435.

Shorthold Tenancies: Evictions

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on the number of households evicted under section 21 of the Housing Act 1998 during the course of 2017.

Lucy Frazer: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Cabinet Office

Government Communication Service: United Arab Emirates

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the memorandum of understanding on communications between the Government Communication Service and the Government of Dubai will involve any financial compensation for the UK Government.

Chloe Smith: This memorandum of understanding on government communication between the Government Communication Service and the Government of Dubai will not involve any financial compensation for the UK Government.

Government Communication Service: Secondment

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many Government Communication Service staff are on secondment to foreign governments.

Chloe Smith: A secondment involves a temporary transfer of a UK Government Communication Service civil servant to a position of employment with another government overseas. No Government Communication Service civil servants are currently on secondment to any international governments.

Elections: Campaigns

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the June 2018 report of the Electoral Commission, Digital Campaigning: Increasing Transparency for Voters, whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals on its recommendation that (a) online materials produced by parties, candidates and campaigners have an imprint stating who has created them and (b) spending categories be revised so that campaigners are compelled to provide detailed information about money spent on digital campaigns.

Chloe Smith: The Government will begin a consultation this summer considering the introduction of digital imprints. The consultation will seek views on the scope of material to be covered, enforcement of the rules and how the requirement to introduce a digital imprint can be appropriately framed. The Government has no current plans to bring forward legislation to revise spending categories.

Public Bodies: Disability

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he has taken to consult with representatives of disabled people's organisations on the digital accessibility implications of the draft Public Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which disabled people's organisations have taken part in face-to-face stakeholder meetings convened with regard to the digital accessibility implications of the Public Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which disabled people's organisations are represented in the stakeholder group he is consulting as the Government prepares guidance for public sector bodies on the draft Public Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Oliver Dowden: A public consultation on the draft Public Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018 and the Government’s plans for implementation ran for four weeks from 30 April to 29 May 2018. A number of disabled people's organisations responded to the consultation and the Government will be publishing its response shortly. Since November 2017, one-to-one meetings have been held with delegates from Leonard Cheshire, Mencap and Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB). A roundtable consultation discussion was held on 17 May 2018 with representatives from major disability charities in the UK. 17 delegates attended this meeting from Mencap, Thomas Pocklington Trust, British Deaf Association, RNIB, Sense, Scope and the Voluntary Organisations Disability Group. Seven representatives from disability charities (Thomas Pocklington Trust, RNIB, Sense, Scope) also attended a follow-up roundtable on 21 June on the subject of how we work together to create useful guidance to help the public sector deliver accessible websites, mobile apps and services.

Elections: Proof of Identity

Cat Smith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to deliver the next round of voter ID pilots; and what the timetable is for the appropriate statutory orders to be laid.

Chloe Smith: Voter ID is an important step to ensuring the public can have greater confidence in our democratic system. The independent Electoral Commission is undertaking a detailed statutory evaluation of the 2018 pilots. The Government will confirm the next steps for voter ID after careful consideration of the Electoral Commission’s report when it is published.